The Third Shift and TikTok

By ARTUR AJAZI

For 45 years in a row, Albanians — most of them, not excluding officials — worked, lived and enjoyed life in three shifts. People worked in three shifts in factories, plants, combines, hydroelectric stations, and small, medium and large enterprises.

Doctors and agronomists, electricians and officers, police and officials worked in three shifts. It was impossible to find a job without a second and third shift. In 1988, Ramiz Alia ordered factories, plants and combines to apply the “4-shift system.” Whether there was a state or not, whether there was democracy or human rights or not, the fact was that Albanians broke their backs at work, whether as laborers or pencil-pushers.

There were no cell phones, no WhatsApp, and even worse, no TikTok. The latter, in Albania, has brought thousands of troubles, problems, quarrels, debates, robberies, injuries and many murders. Because of TikTok, couples have split (40 percent of divorces nationwide), there have been quarrels, injuries, murders, even in schoolyards.

Because of TikTok, gangs have clashed with each other, money and apartments have been stolen, accidents have happened, and other phenomena that have greatly burdened the lives of every age and generation. Edi Rama shut down TikTok last year, prompted by 2 student murders that followed quarrels in schoolyards and areas very close to them. The fact is that 9-year and secondary school students are deeply and massively affected by the “TikTok” epidemic.

Throughout the school year, they spend 90 percent of their time at home, at school and outside it enjoying TikTok. There they watch videos, post videos, give “likes” or insult their peers, exert pressure on friends, girlfriends, or even older people.

In short, TikTok has turned into a monster that is devouring people’s heads. Over 90 percent of young people today do not see work as the sole solution to their troubles, their financial and family needs, and cases of extreme actions against life itself have also greatly increased. Last year 3 girls wanted to end their lives after being blackmailed through their friends’ TikTok.

I dwelled at the start of this piece on the “third shift” because back then work, engagements with work-related problems and family troubles left the young people of that time no time or reason to deal with “chit-chat.” Their time was occupied with lessons (since school had other strict rules), with extracurricular reading and studies, with real activities that enabled the educational process. Unfortunately today in schools the teacher’s authority has completely fallen.

The teacher is seen by the student as “the person who must not be touched, must not be scolded, and must not be punished, even when he screams in the middle of class, even when he films the teacher, even when he watches videos during class from TikTok.” Today the student is an “untouchable flower,” because otherwise you’ll get burned.

He calls mom, dad, the cousin, or the neighborhood tough guy, reports you to the administration, and the teacher who cares about the smooth running of the lesson, or who has reported the rebellious student to the administration, gets a reprimand or loses his job. Are we or aren’t we in a “dhemocracy”?

Naturally these things happen only in Albania. They never happen in Greece, Italy, not even in Moldova. So it falls to all strata of this society, mainly intellectuals and education specialists, to solve a situation that is aggravating problems in schools and beyond. The aim is to raise educated, cultivated, formed generations, to be tomorrow worthy of themselves, their families and society.