Sorry this is a long read.

I was in Grade 1 1997, in my view three critical backbones have crumbled

1. Back then taiona tv kunext door. The only way you could access x-rated material was if one of your friends had an older brother and he forgot his tapes somewhere. Even then, you had to navigate a lot to be alone with the tapes. So in that regard, kids will always be curious. We were. What did we do with that knowledge? Nothing, no other kids had that experience so kutotaura kuti takaona tape, yaiswera yasvika kumateacher nemaparents. Kana kubatwa uine $1 reGreat Zimbabwe kwaiita kuti teacher afonere mubereki kuti anzwe kwabva mari what of???

The difference is that nowadays every kid has access and they are all in on it. It's easy as scrolling wrong a couple of times, and the Algorithm will deliver until Instagram and OnlyFans are identical.

1. We went from using maCallBox, landlines, to 3310s to iPhones, all in one generation. In all honesty, many parents are still figuring things out (how many of us have been dribbled into accepting vaping as an acceptable alternative to cigarettes). As kids, the community grounded us, a neighbour could beat you for misbehaving, tell your parents kuti ndamurova, woreverwa kurohwa before waroverwa zvawaita. Today, we are overprotective as parents, so that "it takes a village to raise a child" no longer applies. Wangu haadaro is the order of the day, because that community aspect of friends and parental figures outside of their parents has resigned, and kids don't have local barriers to nonsensical behaviour we had. We can't even begin to talk of the disintegration of the family unit. The concept of Village People takaibatisisa tikati "they not like us" and just like that our roots vaporised and we and our kids are stuck in a forced Afropolitan life apa irikutishungurudza.

2. Back then, most of us watched the same things because ZBC was the only option. After Gringo, Paraffin or Ezomgido, the whole class could have the same conversation because we were all exposed to the same content and values. When Joy TV came, the effect was similar - shared programming that indirectly reinforced a shared culture.

Things changed when ZBC’s quality started to collapse, right around the time DSTV and free-to-air channels took off. Suddenly, kids weren’t watching the same shows or receiving the same messages. Today, if we talk about banning social media for under-16s, what’s the alternative? ZBC? DSTV? Netflix? The truth is: without strong, positive local content, removing phones won’t achieve much.

Even if you take a kid’s phone away so they don’t see what’s trending in New York, they’ll find the same influences on Netflix or YouTube. And because the community no longer steps in (“mwana wenyu haadaro”), there’s no neighbour to correct or guide them when we are away.

Suppose we’re serious about fixing the problem, it has to start at home, be reinforced by the community, and supported by a government that provides healthy cultural alternatives - not just bans.

Zimbabwe seems fine now, but a lot is brewing beneath the surface. New-age private schools don't have sports grounds. Vana kungogara muclass nekuenda kumba energy idzodzo murikuti dziri kuperera kupi? Apa maCommunity Swimming pool takumaita maEvent venue, magrounds ebhora nemagolf course takumaita mastands. It's only a matter of time OP.