If Violence Starts with Influence, Where Should Change Begin?

I was scrolling through TikTok today when I came across a video of a man beating a woman who was carrying a baby. I don’t know what warranted that kind of beating but trust me, no one, especially a mother should have to go through this kind of abuse. And if not for anything, the man should have been able to exercise some level of restraint due to the child. But that’s not even the shocking part. You should just slide into the comment session and feed your eyes with the kind of heartless stuff people were on about in there. I can’t believe someone actually said the woman deserved that kind of treatment.

Our world is changing very quickly right before our eyes yet we fail to even see it. We have moved from the days where everything was in order and there was peace all around. As the world evolves a lot changes. A few years ago, my country recorded a very high crime and violence rate which was attributed to the lack of unemployment in the country over the years. The youth was idle with nothing doing and so it just made sense that they would engage in crimes and violent activities.

In addition to this, we’ve also seen our own law enforcement agencies inflicting pain on civilians. We all saw what happen during the protest in Nigeria some years ago. Citizens were beaten brutally and lives were even lost. So now, are we supposed to actually believe that the police and other law enforcement agencies are our friends? That’s for you to decide. Today, violence has moved all the way from the gangs and street right into our own homes. Our partners are abusing us, our kids and even neighbours are all being abused. And who’s to blame for that?

Over the years, the movies we see have all transitioned from sweet movies to violent ones. Our kids are watching movies with violent acts, wrestling and what have you. They say people learn from what they see which is very true. Once we ourselves and even our kids are being introduced to such movies, books and even violent people , we are most likely to start practicing these acts. I’ve seen kids go to school and try to act like Spider-Man or other characters in movies which shouldn’t be the case. We even sometimes have some kids wounding others in such instances.

Personally, I’d like to believe the laws don’t work that much in most places. In some countries, the laws don’t work and people are constantly breaking the rules and engaging in criminal acts. So, how do we combat this problem for the better world we all yearn for. I think the first step to reducing violence is reducing the rate of violent acts we show on our screens. Kids should stay away from movies with violent acts and same applies to adults. Aside this, we should be able to self reflect and also be accountable for our actions by learning to manage our emotions.

Most at times, our lack of control over our emotions lead us to engage in violent acts which we tend to regret later on. So, I’d say it’s just a personal decision from everyone’s end that would strengthen our collective decision and choice for a violent free world. Violence isn’t the way to go so, let’s do the right thing for peace and tranquility.

all images belong to me.