Madam,

What has the world become of this generation? Relationships can end without funerals, assaults and police sirens. I have observed something under the sun, something that shrinks my skin, for a moment, I sit down and think. In the blink of an eye, all I thought was gone. What a beautiful generation we have become, a generation so deeply in love that fists now speak louder than wedding vows. A generation where heartbreak is no longer cured with tears, prayer or moving on, but with bottles, slaps, screenshots, insults and occasionally a murder case.

How romantic.

The world has truly evolved. Women no longer wait to be heartbroken quietly. No, now they assemble like armies over unemployed men wearing skinny jeans and fake promises. Sisters are dragging each other through gravel roads over a man whose greatest achievement is replying “wyll?” to five women at once.

What a time to be alive. Under the sun, I have observed a tragic comedy. Girls are fighting in the streets, exposing one another online, stabbing each other emotionally and physically, all in defence of ‘their man’, a man who is usually busy texting ‘I miss you’ to somebody else while the battle continues.

And still, they fight. One loses a tooth, another loses dignity, another loses freedom, and in some heartbreaking cases, lives are lost completely. All for a relationship with an expiry date longer than the milk in the fridge but shorter than peace of mind.

Love, once soft as poetry, has now become a wrestling match sponsored by jealousy and poor decision-making.

Nowadays, relationships resemble court cases. Evidence is collected, screenshots are submitted, voice notes leak like government secrets and friends become investigators. The modern lover no longer says, ‘I adore you.’ They say, ‘Who liked your picture at 02:14?’

Ah, yes, true love, and social media has become the sacred temple of humiliation. People no longer break up privately. No. They announce it with mysterious statuses, insults, revenge posts and blurry videos filmed by neighbours screaming, ‘Yoh! They’re fighting again!’

Children are now growing up believing violence is proof of affection. If someone does not fight for you publicly, drag your rival by the wig or threaten your partner every second day, then perhaps they do not truly care.

Even more saddening is watching women destroy each other over men who themselves are confused, inconsistent and emotionally unavailable. Men who disappear for three days then return with lousy explanations clothe in the name of love. Men who cannot commit to honesty but somehow inspire world wars among lovers.

What happened to self-respect? What happened to walking away with dignity? Why are people willing to trade peace, education, careers and freedom for temporary affection from somebody who may wake up the next day claiming they need some space? The prisons are slowly filling with people, who once uttered the words I love you. Cemeteries are receiving victims of uncontrolled emotions. Children are growing up without mothers and fathers because someone could not accept betrayal, rejection or competition.

Yet, society claps and records instead of healing. Love was never meant to become violence. A relationship should not require ambulances, police statements or trending hashtags. If a person cheats, leaves or disappoints you, painful as it may be, the earth will still rotate. The sun will still rise. Life will continue.

No human being is worth becoming a monster for. Perhaps the saddest thing is that many people no longer know how to separate love from possession. They believe romance means ownership. “If I cannot have you, nobody will.” Such dangerous thinking is poisoning society.

Dear editor, maybe the world has not ended yet, but emotionally, many people are collapsing. Humanity is bleeding beneath expensive eyelashes, filtered selfies and public declarations of toxic love.

May we one day return to sanity.

May people learn that peace is more attractive than obsession.

And may we finally understand that relationships can end without funerals, assaults or police sirens.

Yours painfully and truthfully,

A citizen tired of watching love turn violent

What has the world become of this generation? Relationships can end without funerals, assaults and police sirens.