WHEN I GROW, I WANT TO BE A SOCIALITE!

It was an emotional yet insightful conversation I had with a parent to a college student that I decided on this topic. As we spoke it was apparent that the mother was devastated, hurting and very confused.

This is a parent who just a year ago was very happy that her child had passed with good grades and was accepted to the university. Finally her dreams of having her child become an auditor were about to come true she had thought, but fast forward to today, she is sharing the sad tale of her child who apparently is so obsessed with her new title, ‘socialite’.

According to the parent, such honours to her daughter were conferred by the media and all her child wants to do now is live up to her  status, that of being a socialite.
All my child wants to do now is to be spotted in these night clubs, dress up in clothes and put expensive Brazilian hair which I am not sure how she affords, all because she says she is keeping up with her status, said the distraught parent. All she needed from me was to assist her define and explain in detail, what a socialite is, what positive role in society does a socialite play, was it possible for her child to at least go back to church, focus on her studies and excel in them, avoid clubs and still be glorified by the media as a socialite, she asked with deep concerns.

What’s a socialite?
It is then that it dawned on me that I too was not sure what it takes to be a socialite. I have seen drunkards, young girls who date sugar daddies being glorified as local socialites.
I have come across newspapers featuring popular college students not because of their academic achievements but because they are regular in party scenes. I do come across young people splashed out in newspapers because of their dress sense, expensive Peruvian hair but drop-outs of college due to financial difficulties, then I would ask myself, couldn’t whoever finance their expensive taste in clothing and hair at least skip the fashion and finance the education? And they are called socialites.

 I once woke up to a daily that had given so much space to a young person who categorically stated that, she had a number of children by an older man and went on to count her fleet of cars that another older man had bought her. She gave a detailed account of how men financed her lavish lifestyle and yes she ended her interview by stating that, ‘who needs an education or job when her own beauty and body could afford her such?’

Believe me, this young person appeared in our very own local newspapers. I clearly could not understand what the objective of that article, was it meant to sensitise young people, inform or educate them, on what basically? Oh now I see, maybe that is being a socialite, pardon me I too am not sure, who is a socialite? What is their role in society and how can the youth look up to them?

According to the Wikipedia encyclopaedia, a socialite is a person who has a reputation in society for spending a significant amount of time participating in social activities such as parties and other fashionable events, entertaining guests and being entertained by others of similar standing.

Mentor
It would be a good idea for young people to look up to mentors as opposed to socialites. If only we would have more mentors flagged out more often as opposed to socialites. It is from mentors that young people stand to learn something meaningful and positive. We need to develop a culture of using positive role modelling and mentorship to avoid the sad predicament that had befallen this parent. I would encourage young people to look up to mentors instead!

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