By Kimani Wiseman
The following is a skit that depicts peer pressure in society. Please take note of the message and share it with your friends and family.
School
Teacher: Good morning students, for your Geography home-work, I would like you to read about climate change and write an essay no less than 500 words about the effects of climate change in your community.
Jason: Oh my god, school can be very stressful at times, I need a break.
Bob: I know the remedy to make you pass all your subjects and to help you to stay focus.
Jason: Let me take a guess, coffee?
Bob: No, coffee is useless, I going higher than coffee. My neighbour usually mix marijuana and cocaine. This is the solution to all your school problems. It would make you feel as if you are on cloud nine. Let us go and take a smoke after class.
Jason: I would not be smoking marijuana and cocaine to pass my subjects. Smoking marijuana and cocaine is the reason why my cousin is roaming the streets “pissing crazy”. He is a cocaine jumbie. You want to send me crazy? If you want to smoke marijuana and cocaine and experiment with other drugs, you have to know what you want in life. These drugs would destroy your brain cells. Drugs are not the answer to be successful in school, it is how you apply yourself and develop the mind over matter philosophy.
Bob: You sound really retarded. Anyways, I going to get high.
Gangs
Mom: Kevin, can you go at the supermarket for me please, I need some rice and chicken to cook the pelau.
Kevin: Leave the money on the table, I am coming.
Andy: What ah go on Kevin? Long time I have not seen or heard from you, what have you been up to?
Kevin: I am good, I came here to buy some chicken and rice, what have you been up to?
Andy: After graduating from secondary school, my mom and dad passed away. I joined a gang that is like family to me. They were the only ones who were there for me. I would like you to join this gang. We are recruiting members. They pay you a lot of money, the blue BMW car parked outside is my ride. I also have my own house, thanks to this gang. Another gang stole some drugs from us and we would be flushing them out one by one.
We are the kingpins on the streets and nobody is going to steal our drugs and get away with it.
Kevin: Are you crazy? Crimes are out of control, blood is running in the streets like water, this country is paradise for tourists and locals, not a gangstas paradise and you want me to join your gang? If you don’t leave this gang immediately you would either end up in the cemetery or in jail. What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul?
Three days after
Kevin: Mom, can you turn on the TV? I want to watch the 7:00 pm news.
News reporter: Good night, in the 7:00 pm evening news, the streets turned red last night with blood. Two gang rivals clashed as the country battles with an unprecedented crime wave and gang related crimes. Thirty gun shots were heard. Here are the photos of the deceased. Condolences to the families and friends, may their souls rest in peace.
Kevin: Oh my god, mom, Andy is on the news, he died last night in the gang shooting. Three days ago when you sent me at the supermarket, I saw him inside the supermarket and he wanted me to join his gang because another gang stole drugs from his gang and they were going to hunt them down. I warned him to leave the gang life because he would either end up in the cemetery or in jail but he did not listen.
Friends
Mary: Karen, how is everything with you and your boyfriend?
Karen: Michael displays everything I always wanted in a man, he is very loving and goes the extra mile for me. He is very romantic, last night he proposed to me when we were having dinner at a restaurant. Here is the ring.
Mary: I think you should leave Michael and let me introduce you to some of my rich male friends. The only thing you have to do is sleep with them and they pay you handsomely. Last night, I made $1000 dollars in one night. Which other job can you make so much money in one night? I think these guys would satisfy your delight much better than Michael.
Karen: You want me to leave my loving fiancé to sleep around with some rich guys for money? Is a screw missing from your head? I rather build from the bottom to the top with my fiancé than to sleep around with your rich male friends. The love of money is the root of all evil. Did you test these guys to make sure they don’t have AIDS? You are putting your life at risk for money. I don’t need your rich male friends to satisfy my delight, my fiancé does.
Mary: They don’t look like they have AIDS or any sexually transmitted diseases.
Karen: Looks are deceiving, you cannot tell if someone have AIDS by looking at them. You have to do an HIV test. Please stop this prostitution life that you are living.