A family is an institution that provides people with a sense of belonging and identity. Cultivating values helps form a family’s bond. Values are our beliefs, cares, and treasure worth the efforts. Moral codes are the fundamental principles that guide our behavior as human beings. They act as a moral compass in decision-making and provide us with meaning in life. The cancel culture threatens family bonds.
My family forms a great part of my personal identity. Growing up, I have drawn different virtues from each member of my family. I have six siblings each embody different values including courage, sincerity, free spirit, resilience, commitment, and thoughtfulness. My mother epitomizes an admirable kind and forgiving spirit. I can attest to her helping nature even when it drains and costs her too much.
The cancel culture
Today, the cancel culture is becoming a trend to the extent virtues like forgiveness take a back seat. It especially takes roots among the youth to the point no one makes an effort to hear the other out.
The cancel culture is a form of ostracism involving someone’s exclusion from social and professional circles. This culture, propagated by social media has spilled its venom to the family. People throw the toxic word around so much. People don’t really grasp its impact on their immediate relations with family members.
The cancel culture is not just about ostracizing people from your social circle. It is also about removing them from your life entirely. This includes cutting off contact with friends and family members causing a lot of tension within the family dynamic. This new trend points to a rise in individualism and self-entitlement. It portrays how people prioritize themselves over others. They refuse to compromise for any other person’s needs but theirs.
The cancel culture influences how youth interact with their families in many different ways. For example, social interactions between family members decline. This is because people fear being called out for saying something insensitive or offensive on social media. Further, feelings of isolation and loneliness spread because people are not engaging in meaningful relationships anymore. Parents ostracization fosters feelings of resentment among peers. Removal of one’s parents from social circles by one’s peers fuels these feelings towards peers.
Repairing family bonds
There are ways parents can repair relationships with their children after this culture takes hold in the family dynamic. One is being aware of how family members communicate to each other and how they react when one of them is excluded from some social circles or friend groups. The goal should always be to encourage openness and honesty while fostering an environment where everyone feels safe and accepted.
Creation of a culture where everyone feels safe and accepted in their family encourages sympathy with individual family members’ needs. The solution is not just about canceling people out of our lives. Rather, it is about addressing the root cause and repairing relationships with family members. The best way to repair family relationships is taking time as a family to focus on what they have in common rather than what separates them.
By: Rose Koinange.
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