By Munyaradzi Blessing Doma

Author Rutendo Tanyanyiwa has challenged young people to resist growing pressure to conform to society’s superficial standards, urging them to embrace their identity, set boundaries and have the courage to say “no”.

Tanyanyiwa, who has worked with children and young people for more than 20 years, said her latest book, Own My Yes, was inspired by her concern over the pressures confronting today’s generation, particularly adolescents and young adults.

The book targets young people aged between 12 and 21, a period Tanyanyiwa said is often characterised by puberty, identity struggles and increased exposure to peer pressure.

“I want every young person that reads this book to have a mind that is transformed, to know that it is okay to say ‘NO’ and not feel guilty, it is okay to set boundaries, and it is okay to be labelled different because they have chosen the right path,” she said.

Tanyanyiwa said she was saddened by the way some young people were increasingly being pushed to live on the edge in their quest to fit in and gain acceptance from their peers.

Her book tackles a range of issues affecting young people, including sexuality, drug use, colourism, body shaming and dressing, while examining the pressure to conform to changing social trends.

She said the pressure to own the latest gadgets, for example, could leave some young people feeling like outcasts, while other forms of peer pressure were pushing them towards alcohol and drug use.

“The book speaks about how it feels taboo to have a dark complexion, how you have to have the latest iPhone or you are labelled as an outcast, how to be part of the clique you have to drink, have to use tshisha pipe.”

Tanyanyiwa also tackles the normalisation of early sexual activity and the pressure on young people to create false identities in order to be accepted by popular groups.

At the heart of the book, she said, is a message that young people should not sacrifice their values and identity simply to gain acceptance.

The author said the book draws heavily from her experiences of working with young people and walking alongside them as they navigated difficult situations.

“It plays a vital key because I wrote this book using experiences of young people that I have had to walk through certain issues they faced,” she said.

As her second book, Tanyanyiwa said writing Own My Yes was a natural process because of her longstanding work with young people.

She also called on parents, schools and communities to encourage children to develop a culture of reading, warning that growing reliance on artificial intelligence could weaken young people’s willingness to engage with books and discover information for themselves.

“Everyone plays a very important role in encouraging children to read.

“We seem to have a generation of kids that just want to ask AI for answers and no longer want to read books to find out the hidden truth.”

The book is being published by Faithland Publishers, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, with Tanyanyiwa hoping to launch it before the end of October.

She believes society can still reverse some of the negative influences confronting young people if families, schools, communities and other stakeholders take collective responsibility for shaping the next generation.

“If everyone in society plays their part, we still have a chance in saving the generations that are coming up from living a superficial life with no firm values for their own culture,” she said.

Her first book, Single and Standing, was inspired by her personal journey.