Not so angelic teenagers

24POSTS

5 years ago

Anyone with teenagers want to provide some feedback.
My husband is from a smaller city in Morocco.
We live in a big city in Canada.
My husband is highly critical of Canadian, American and European Teenagers labelling them as being very disrespectful to their parents and the way they dress and conduct themselves in public.

We are pretty strict parents in general.聽 I don't let our daughter roam around with anyone.聽 I need to know who she is around and if I don't like them I am not shy about saying so.聽 My husband is even more strict as he generally does not like anyone if they are not Muslim and fairly religious.聽 I am not religious so I guess I am the exception.

During the last few years our daughter has spent that last few summers in Morocco and made a good number of friends she keeps in contact with through social media.

Like just about every teenager they are talking to each other on social media.聽 The other day I am sitting with her and she is showing me some photos from the profiles of some of her Moroccan Teenage friends in Casablanca and Rabat and I was really shocked.

All these girls are wearing skin tight clothes, mid drift tops, loads of makeup and taking really sexualized photos especially considering their age.聽 I was really annoyed.聽 I spent sometime telling my daughter directly how I felt about this type of behaviour and explained why.聽 The guys were just as bad in the male version of inappropriate too.

I am seeing these kids taking photos with bottle of alcohol, smoking cigarettes and other likely illegal things and I was pretty surprised because this was very over the top bad behaviour even by North American standards.聽 This kids are not even drinking cheap alcohol.聽 It is expensive stuff (unless it is photos edited in). Being a drug addict, alcoholic or trashing is not trending or is it?

Anyone in Morocco with teenagers have any feedback.聽 My husband is under soon delusion that teenagers in Morocco as so much more wholesome, respectful and religious.聽 If he looked at the Instagram accounts of the kids she was talking to from Morocco he would freak out.聽 I am happy the Pandemic blocked them from going back this summer as I want to make sure I know who she is talking to next time she goes back because I am not impressed.

Not in a million years would I be tolerating any of that here.聽 Very confused about what is considered acceptable behaviour in Casablanca for teenagers.

Also curious to know if this is a city or income specific issue?聽 The teenagers from my husband's city don't dress like this, but I have never looked at all their social media accounts 鈥� so who knows.

Are teenagers just a potentially annoying and reckless in Morocco as North American and Europe?

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touritox Contributor

172POSTS

5 years ago

Hello welcome ,
About morocco we are in a way to been like europe and americain style of teenagers specialy in this days of tiktok and social media everyone want to show up in the scene of life specialy girls they forget that they are muslims and start wearing those very sexy clothes ... and lets say drugs and alcohol been such a normal thing here its like someday we going to make it as a dinner drink , but because of our parents and good people that they live in the past when everything was respectful they still have some control thats why the community still have some good ,
you can talk to your teenagers and try to explain things to them that this ways is just going to destroy their lifes and this way of clothes and habbits is not from your traditions ... , we all living our time when we was teenager i was having fun and enjoy what i want to do without care for anything its聽 selfish but when you see that bec the friends i was with and the mentality that affected from social media and internet , but i woke up and know that its not a good way so i changed my direction to be responsable person and follow my goals and have a personality that not affected by other ones but choice what is good to me , thats what we need to teach the new generation .
In casablanca or any place of morocco there is good teenagers that not like those that your daughter met , i am still young in 20's and i see that and i have a good friends that i choose them and i know others that they doing this things like alcohol and this style of wearing but like i said its about choise .
about some small cities in morocco they have some girls wear those sexy clothes but just few numbers because the traditions there and way of living still respectful that they dont accept this kind of live style ,聽 i remember in 2013 a friend told me that there was a girl in a small city went to high school wearing some clothes that are sexy so she get a problem , the guys and boys there start shoting on her and said go away from our school you sl*t and the director of school come to protect her and explain to her what happened , she didnt understand why at first they do that bec she grow in a big city that is normal to wear like this .

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globewalker Member

24POSTS

5 years ago

Good information to know.
I think my husband's expectations are unrealistic for current times.

I am trying to advise her on the reality that she needs to focus on her education right now.聽
Drugs, alcohol and smoking are not "cool" but a way to create life long problems.

The dressing provocatively only attracts the people you actually should want to avoid.

I just found it really ironic that I was worried about her going there an acting inappropriately and these kids she is talking to are dressing like they are going to night clubs.

Best wishes

1 member reacted to this post

touritox Contributor

172POSTS

5 years ago

You welcome 馃檹
Be a friend of her and talk to her give some advices and show her the good way . God bless your kids .

ahouam Active member

41POSTS

5 years ago

Hi, There

I somehow identify a lot with your post - as I was in the same state of mind that your husband seems to be in, before actually moving in to Morocco -聽 and seeing how things are 'on the ground'.

It is a very common thing for people who have left Morocco (or any other Muslim country) and spent many, many years abroad and still have in their minds, the idealised picture of 'Home'. The truth is, things have changed a lot in the last ten years (or so) - and the availability of social media / the internet, have corrupted the minds of many youngsters (not everyone, of course, but many have been badly affected).

My kids were born in the UK and they'd always been studying in Private 'Muslim' schools. We've always talked about moving to Morocco, to escape the 'corruption' in the West. Once here, we were shocked to see that the kids were much better protected in the UK than in Morocco. I don't regret my move, but I do regret that I painted an idealistic 'utopian' picture of Morocco, only to be confronted with the hard truth. With hindsight, I should have informed my kids that Good / Bad people are found everywhere and what matters the most, is the companionship we chose. My kids now have made up their minds and are much more aware of things / life....they've opened their eyes on the "real world", when we moved to Morocco.

There are other advantages of being here....that still makes the move worthwhile.

Anyway - good luck to you - happy to provide more details, if needed.

Best wishes

JIMMY BOND Contributor

110POSTS

5 years ago

Teenagers will be teenagers聽 which involves experimentation rebellion and a supremacy over older people'
Many young Moroccans have adopted western culture staying out late at night at clubs and bars.聽聽
Morocco has two cultures side by side
One the traditional and very religious way of life and the other more duck n dive and a little nefarious