Part 6: The Fallout

Part 6: The Fallout

What We’ve Inherited, What We’re Becoming, and Why We Must Act Now

After five parts of this series, I thought I had said it all. But how could I? This crisis—this epidemic of violence, pain, and disconnection—is so much bigger than five posts.

Because we’re not just dealing with violence in homes, or on screens. We’re dealing with the fallout of a broken world.

☣️ COVID Changed Everything

During the pandemic, isolation grew. Stress grew. So did poverty, addiction, domestic violence. Women were trapped. Kids were online all day. No school, no community, no reprieve. And now we’re seeing the aftermath in real time:

• 🧠 More youth self-harming, overdosing, disappearing
• 🧓 Older generations retreating into addiction, distraction, despair
• 👀 Everyone numbing themselves with screens, substances, and silence

We lost something as a society during COVID. And we haven’t recovered.

🌍 A World That Teaches Hate

Globally, violence against women is used as a weapon of war. In Gaza. In Congo. In the US. It’s normalized. Justified. Filmed. Uploaded. Watched.

We brought people into Canada who come from places where women are not safe—sometimes where they’re not even seen as human. We didn’t educate or integrate. We didn’t protect women here. Now the backlash is real. And terrifying.

I felt it the other day—a look, a comment, a dismissal. A man looked at me like I didn’t matter. Like I didn’t deserve to speak. I felt it in my bones. That kind of hate is dangerous. And it’s growing.

🧸 The Children Are Not Alright

We used to say the first five years were everything. But now kids are raised on violence, noise, neglect, fear, and digital junk. And we still expect them to become kind, loving, gentle adults?

We’re asking our youth to become caregivers in a world that never cared for them.

We’re expecting our daughters to raise babies when they’ve never felt safe enough to have one.

We’re expecting our sons to lead with empathy when all they’ve seen is cruelty.

This is not their fault. It’s ours.

⚠️ If We Don’t Act Now…

We’ll raise a generation that doesn’t know love. That doesn’t trust. That doesn’t feel safe in their own skin. And when we grow old, they won’t know how to care for us. Because no one cared for them.

This is our last warning. And our last chance to turn it around.

🌱 But There Is Still Hope

We can’t undo what’s been done—but we can still show up now. We can:

• 🗣️ Tell the truth, even when it’s hard
• 📣 Demand justice and protection for all women
• 💞 Reconnect with youth, with honesty and respect
• 🏘️ Rebuild community from the ground up
• 🧠 Prioritize healing, even when the wounds are invisible

But we can’t keep waiting. This is the moment.

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💬 Final Words

Our children are not broken—they are wounded. Our elders are not cruel—they are overwhelmed. And we are all in this together, whether we like it or not.

Violence doesn’t start in a fist. It starts in silence.
Let’s not be silent anymore.

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✍️ In grief, hope, and deep truth,
Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita
🌐 zipolita.com | Facebook | Twitter