"Dear Editor,

You ask "Where have all the Role Models Gone?"

" I counter your question with another question, "Where are the young ones going without incorporating the experiences of older generations?"

Contact us on: editor@reconnectafrica.com

This edition of Re-Connect Africa was again splendid.

Your Editorial spells it out so clearly and accurately on role-modelling. ('Where Have All the Role Models Gone?')

Well Done.

Pamela D., Accra

'Where Have all the Role Models Gone?'
Once upon a time, youth would listen to elders who had reached a level of respect and responsibility within the village. Now, many of our youth listen to, and aspire to become, those who have the most money and reflect the 'good life'. If not listening to the richest, our youth listen to each other and those celebrated others who aspire for riches and fame ‘by any means necessary'.

Once upon a time, elders aspired to levels of respect, authority, and responsibility within the village. Now, our elders strive for positions within boardrooms and bedrooms that insure them of wealth and celebrity. If not aspiring for worldly prestige, some of our elders have become embittered, burned out, cynical, and frightened by the future.

The other day, I was approached by a young woman to fill in as teacher in her dance class, while she conducted workshops in another part of the country. I was delighted because I have always enjoyed being a part of any class of diverse generations, cultures and levels of enthusiasm. More importantly, I appreciated her invitation because I was very sensitive to remaining low-keyed in the class in spite of my years of dance experience. Still, I thought that this sharing of the experience gained from creating three successful dance companies in the past would give me another opportunity to give back to a new group of diverse dance enthusiasts!

Instead, I later became aware that the young teacher was not inviting me to be a 'guest instructor' at all, but rather a 'substitute fill-in' of her vision regarding how to conduct the class. She wanted the class to run exactly as if she were there without any deviations or possible personal expressions by the students or the ³filler² teacher. It never dawned on her that by inviting an experienced teacher might indicate to me that she was comfortable with giving up her control temporarily and that she recognized that there were other ways of doing and teaching dance beyond her own experiences.

Realizing just how much discussion it would take to explain that her instructions were both creatively limiting and personally offensive (and also risking the possibility of my being misunderstood and possibly ostracized from the class!), I diplomatically declined the invitation without going into much detail about my reasons. Still, I regret that this opportunity to share was a missed one 'for all of us' because of a failure to appreciate what some elders bring to younger generations based upon personal expertise and experience. You may or may not agree with my decision, but I think this situation may address your initial inquiry.

You ask 'where have all the role models gone???' I counter your question with another question, 'where are the young ones going without incorporating the experiences of older generations???'

Granted, young people have tremendous energy, enthusiasm, and intelligence. As a mother and grandmother, educator, minister, and artist, I am very proud of the generations that I have reproduced, cultivated, and contributed to the world. However, there is still a need for recognizing and appreciating the expertise and contributions that years of experience bring to the lives of each generation.

Not always are we going to function based upon the terms of young people, alone. Neither are all of the experts found within boardrooms, recording studios, sports arenas, or onstage. My generation is also the result of descendants who required us to differentiate between what we needed from them, and what we needed to respectfully set aside. Today, it is difficult to even get an audience with a generation that is connected globally and inter-generationally, but has little or no tolerance for anything or anyone that represents 'the past'. Still when given an opportunity, each generation faces the other fully recognizing that something is missing.

Collective work and responsibility requires an open and willingness to listen to each other's approaches no matter what the age. Based upon years of preparation and development, many elders have stories to tell that were often neglected or under-rated by their own parents and peers as well as today's young people. Even some educational, social, and religious organizations have submitted to the cries of young people to become more relevant and current, at a loss of known common sense, academic excellence and group authenticity.

As one who also challenged the system of my parent's generation, I am also grateful for the opportunities when I did listen critically and analytically. When given information that challenged me, I learned to listen, incorporate it, and often benefited from different perspectives.

Is your generation willing to listen to challenging views? Is getting your attention only by using the newest gadgets of communication? Can we just find time to sit down and talk to one another and 'agree to disagree, mutually and respectfully?' I would love to be a part of such a community comprised of multiple generations, 'from the womb to the tomb!'

The role models you require are not far away. Many are waiting to be asked to respond on their terms and without your contemporary pre-conditions. Some are very comfortable with the process of aging, and have looked forward to their time of filling the shoes upon whose feet we all stand. While each generation brings its own style of living and learning, there is still a bit of the predecessor in each of us.

Let us listen and learn to appreciate each other's differences without our fingers or phone pods stuck in our ears. Perhaps, you can build that inter-generational community through this publication.

If you do, count me in!!!!

Dr Sharon Minor King, USA

What do you think about ReConnect Africa? Share your comments on this or any of our articles

Contact us on: editor@reconnectafrica.com