They say it is easier to make money than making a difference. We are celebrating tonight ten years of difference that Love to Live has made in the lives of thousands of our young people.
It is for this reason that I am a lifelong fan of Love to Live. I attended several Love to Live events in my previous “life” as MEC for Education and now as MEC for Finance. However, before I was appointed to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Cabinet, I had been genuinely touched by the commitment of the organisation.
Like many others, I was deeply concerned in 2001 when I read that the 15th child, over a period of seven months, took his own life in the Pietermaritzburg North area. He was the third learner at his school. But the community refused to lose one more young life to suicide and Love to Live was born. It is the critical intervention of role-players, such as the Famcare Therapy Centre, the Pietermaritzburg and district community chest, mental health professionals, teachers, principals, sports coaches, business and other members of the community that has made that difference.
Their critical intervention reminds me of a drowning boy in one of Aesop’s fables. The boy, who had strayed out of his depth, began to drown in a river, when a passing stranger saw him and began to scold him for being reckless. “Please help me out first, then by all means scold me afterwards,” the boy cried.
Love to Live has been offering that helping hand to our drowning children, instead of blaming them for being ineffective in dealing with their life problems. It is that support that our children need. When young people feel supported and connected they are capable of maintaining good health and healthy practices. Adolescence, as it is, is already a period of confusion where our children have to deal with academic, social and individual pressures. Add stress factors like violence in the family, substance abuse, HIV and AIDS, poor performance, fear of punishment, rivalry, bullying, complex interpersonal relations, and child headed households and we can understand that some of our children can feel there is nothing to live for.
The Children’s Act, which became operational from 1 April 2010, introduces better reporting mechanisms for child abuse, neglect and exploitation of children. It also addresses the plight of child headed households. As parents and communities we tend not to articulate our children’s problems. Very often we ignore warning signs because we don’t know how to deal with our children’s challenges. And to understand teenage and adolescent mental health calls for an appreciation of the overall dimensions affecting them. Very often substance abuse and/or promiscuity mask depression. Experts will also testify about the role that alcohol and drugs play in suicide attempts.
The lack of attention to the mental health of our children and adolescents can have lifelong consequences and reduce the capacity of societies to be safe and productive. Neglect often results in absence from education, underachievement, substance abuse and involvement in criminal activity. It follows our children as adults in unemployment, crime, anti-social behaviour, marital problems, poor employee relations and poor physical health.
Eighteenth century political philosopher John Adams believed that we need “two educations:” One to teach us how to make a living and the other how to live. Realising the need to teach our children “how to live,” government introduced the subject life orientation a few years ago. But we know that an academic subject cannot be all and end all of guidance.
We acknowledge the huge role that our educators play in our children’s lives. As a result of our very hectic lives our children spend more hours with their teachers than with their parents. It is our teachers who often alert parents of problems. But it requires a healthy relationship between our schools and parent communities. And parents who take up their parental responsibilities.
With Child Protection Week that has just kicked off we need to remind ourselves that it is everyone’s responsibility to make our communities child-friendly and to promote the value of children. I am very excited about the Children’s City 2020 project that will give children a permanent physical presence in our capital. The provincial government has released the old, disused school of the former boy’s model school in Jabu Ndlovu Street for the trust to use. We hope to see it buzzing with a wide range of resources and activities dedicated to serving, preserving and celebrating childhood in Msunduzi.
It is important to see the city through the eyes of children. Therefore I welcome the fact that MIDI also consults children to help the adults to imagine and shape the city. Maps may show play areas but in reality our children may not use them because they are occupied by taxis or drug users. Like President Jacob Zuma said at the launch of the Children’s Act on 21 May 2010, it is only natural to link this year’s Child Protection Week to the celebration of the World Cup. We are concerned that the extended mid-term school holidays during the World Cup will leave large numbers of children without full time supervision.
Children wandering alone in shopping malls and football stadiums will be vulnerable to people with evil intentions. Knowing that the devil finds work for idle hands to do, we must also make sure that our children have enough chores and activities to keep them occupied. To my horror I read about a new fad that has taken off in France and apparently now also in Belgium where young people organise mass binge-drinking parties on Facebook.
The idea is to set records for the biggest number of drunken people together. People are apparently encouraged to drink until they can no longer stand with severe consequences. In Nantes a 21 year old fell himself to death and 41 people were arrested on charges of drug trafficking, public drunkenness and violence. At a previous Nantes Facebook Aperitif 38 young people reportedly had to be hospitalised as a result of alcohol poisoning. We must not tolerate any destructive social phenomenon.
While government departments, the United Nations agency United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the police, justice officials, social workers and other service professionals will provide assistance in World Cup host cities and other areas, we ask parents and members of communities to keep a watchful eye over our children. Life is a precious gift and ubuntu is our strength.
Thank you Love to Live for spreading the culture of life to our young people. For showing them that life does not have to be dark and hopeless
Together we can give our children a life with dignity, security and economic prosperity.
Issued by: Provincial Treasury, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
28 May 2010
Source: Provincial Treasury, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kzntreasury.gov.za/)
