Capacity Building Through Youth Empowerment Can Bring Positive Change (#288)

What popular worldview, quote, or social belief do you think has negatively influenced our society today? How do you protect younger people around you from adopting that mindset, and how do you personally resist the pressure to conform to it?

Hello #ladiesofhive, it is a new week, and I wish you great new things. I was happy when I saw the second prompt of this week's contest. This is because I was scammed of my hard-earned resources here on the Hive blockchain after being saved by one of the sagacious ladies of Hive at the Discord server earlier on. There were so many reasons that I think it happened, one of which will form the basis of my write-up today.

There is a popular belief that internet fraud is a smart hustle if an individual succeeds. One can be deceived into believing this fallacy because it sounds true but is not. One day, I was discussing “greediness” with our local church teens and received overwhelming feedback on internet fraud, and why the youths nowadays tend to believe that it is a smart hustle.

Some of the things they mentioned were that it is a game of two greedy people or a game of wits, where the smartest person wins. Some were of the view that it is a smart hustle because it requires a lot of tweaks, setting of traps using intelligent apps and software to lure victims and strip them of their hard-earned resources.

This level of acceptance has changed the mindset of individuals, especially the youth, who now believe that quick and illegal sources of funds are the way to stardom. Throwing away the culture of gradually building resources through consistent amassing of skills, values, and competences, which will translate into a sustained and stabilised source of wealth.

Meetings

To protect and prevent them from adopting this negative mindset, I harp on the role of the youth in the nation and capacity building each time I have an opportunity to engage them. Again, paint scenarios of how damaging such a belief can be, how it can affect the integrity, peace, and reputation of individuals who engage in such acts and trust such a belief system.

In one of such meetings, one of them shared how he was always having anxiety anytime he was around the police post or had law enforcement personnel around him. He nearly slipped into mental health, but with the help of his big aunty and consistent counseling, he left the smart hustling for something better and is ever peaceful within himself.

Skill Acquisition Training

Furthermore, I constantly remind them that sustained and well-channelled resources may take time to build. Still, it will definitely tell plenty of story lines in the future and attract more opportunities to them than when such wealth lacks a base, root, or good history.

Though some of them shared how peer pressure, comparison, and family needs have influenced their decision to such a belief. To curb the menace and save the youths, some concerned brethren now run a skill acquisition centre that empowers them through numerous programmes to shift their mindset from smart hustling, as they call it, to financial freedom.

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