Lifestyle
OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has urged young people to not be fooled by some social media influencers with their “fake lifestyles” and appearances that create pressure to “fit in”.
The former prime minister was speaking at the Impacting and Building Youth Camp (IBYC) regional youth conference at the La Romaine Secondary School on Sunday.
She noted that youths from around the region—Antigua and Barbuda,
Barbados, St Kitts and Nevis, Dominican Republic, Anguilla, St Maarten, Anguilla, St Lucia, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago—came to this country for the week-long camp where they would be empowered on how to effectively cope with the difficult situations that face young people today.
She said the topics set out will not be pleasant because of the “harsh reality” in the world today.
Persad-Bissessar explained that in this age of widespread and easily accessible technology and the domination of social media young people are faced with tremendous pressure from social media and personal attacks.
“We would all like to see crime reduced so youths can live fulfilling lives,” she said.
She added that the current crime crisis is a hindrance to our young people and achieving their fullest potential.
“I would like to see you all ignore the false lifestyles, misleading low social standards put out on some social media platforms because these wrongly make young people feel negative about their own lives and negatively affects their self-esteem,” she said.
“Fake lifestyles and appearances that some social media influencers portray, they are not what creates and sustains meaningful lives,” she added.
Persad-Bissessar said youths must live their lives to be happy and not betray themselves to look and act a certain way to fit in and gain social acceptance from a “fake clique” on social media.
She said she wants to see young people take control of their self-confidence and follow the teachings of Jesus and have self-worth based on their own feelings and not on what social media wants them to be. She noted that Jesus was the most famous person to have ever walked the earth and in that time there was no social media yet globally people from different religions and backgrounds know about Jesus.
Persad-Bissessar urged people to never be discouraged no matter how harsh their trials may be. She also urged them to be like Christ and embody love and not hold on to anger and bitterness.
