Creating Responsible Citizens

The City of Jo­han­nes­burg’s Mem­ber of the May­oral Com­mit­tee for Com­mu­nity De­vel­op­ment, Cllr Nonhlanhla Si­fumba, at­tended the GenZ Speaks Out panel dis­cus­sion.

The event was or­gan­ised by the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa. The panel dis­cus­sion was tar­geted at young peo­ple un­der the age of 18 to dis­cuss some of the is­sues that af­fect them in their lives. Young peo­ple had the op­por­tu­nity to have a con­ver­sa­tion that was guided by adults who care about their well­be­ing. The panel was made up of five vi­brant young peo­ple. Some of the ques­tions that were dis­cussed in­cluded what does it mean to be young and free per­son in South Africa? What do you need from your par­ents? Where do you pre­fer to get sex­ual health talk from and how do we curb teenage preg­nancy? The an­swers by the youth were very elo­quent and thought provoking. Some of the par­ents in the room com­mented that they re­alised how lit­tle they know about their chil­dren. The event high­lighted how the gen­er­a­tion gap between par­ents and chil­dren can lead to mis­com­mu­ni­ca­tion and a lost op­por­tu­nity for adults and the youth to bond.

The event was or­gan­ised by the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa. The panel dis­cus­sion was tar­geted at young peo­ple un­der the age of 18 to dis­cuss some of the is­sues that af­fect them in their lives. Young peo­ple had the op­por­tu­nity to have a con­ver­sa­tion that was guided by adults who care about their well­be­ing. The panel was made up of five vi­brant young peo­ple. Some of the ques­tions that were dis­cussed in­cluded what does it mean to be young and free per­son in South Africa? What do you need from your par­ents? Where do you pre­fer to get sex­ual health talk from and how do we curb teenage preg­nancy? The an­swers by the youth were very elo­quent and thought provoking. Some of the par­ents in the room com­mented that they re­alised how lit­tle they know about their chil­dren. The event high­lighted how the gen­er­a­tion gap between par­ents and chil­dren can lead to mis­com­mu­ni­ca­tion and a lost op­por­tu­nity for adults and the youth to bond.

The event was or­gan­ised by the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa. The panel dis­cus­sion was tar­geted at young peo­ple un­der the age of 18 to dis­cuss some of the is­sues that af­fect them in their lives. Young peo­ple had the op­por­tu­nity to have a con­ver­sa­tion that was guided by adults who care about their well­be­ing. The panel was made up of five vi­brant young peo­ple. Some of the ques­tions that were dis­cussed in­cluded what does it mean to be young and free per­son in South Africa? What do you need from your par­ents? Where do you pre­fer to get sex­ual health talk from and how do we curb teenage preg­nancy? The an­swers by the youth were very elo­quent and thought provoking. Some of the par­ents in the room com­mented that they re­alised how lit­tle they know about their chil­dren. The event high­lighted how the gen­er­a­tion gap between par­ents and chil­dren can lead to mis­com­mu­ni­ca­tion and a lost op­por­tu­nity for adults and the youth to bond.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of SA pro­vides fa­cil­ity-based pro­grammes for learn­ers from grades R to 12 dur­ing non­school hours. It fa­cil­i­tates pro­grammes ev­ery day af­ter school, on week­ends and dur­ing school hol­i­days.

It also pro­vides im­por­tant daily pro­grammes and ac­tiv­i­ties for chil­dren and teenagers such as home­work help and tu­tor­ing, ca­reer guid­ance, lead­er­ship, com­mu­nity ser­vice and in­for­ma­tion tech­nol­ogy skills. It also of­fers sports pro­grammes such as soc­cer, bas­ket­ball and net­ball, and arts and cul­ture pro­grammes such as marimba, dance and drama.

It also pro­vides im­por­tant daily pro­grammes and ac­tiv­i­ties for chil­dren and teenagers such as home­work help and tu­tor­ing, ca­reer guid­ance, lead­er­ship, com­mu­nity ser­vice and in­for­ma­tion tech­nol­ogy skills. It also of­fers sports pro­grammes such as soc­cer, bas­ket­ball and net­ball, and arts and cul­ture pro­grammes such as marimba, dance and drama.

The City of Joburg is a pro-poor gov­ern­ment that sup­ports pro­grammes that are aimed at ad­dress­ing in­equal­ity and poverty. “We run fa­cil­i­ties with lim­ited re­sources and have lim­ited funds to run youth pro­grams. We wel­come col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Boys and Girls Club of South Africa by rolling out ac­tiv­i­ties in the City’s fa­cil­i­ties” said MMC Si­fumba. The City of Joburg re­mains one of Boys & Girls Clubs of SA’s long­est-stand­ing part­ners and crit­i­cal to the growth of the Boys & Girls Club model in South Africa. The City pro­vides its fa­cil­i­ties for free to the or­gan­i­sa­tion. The re­la­tion­ship has been ce­mented over the years, and now to­gether, the two play­ers aim to open 10 sites by 2020.

Source:
https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/inner-city-gazette/20180705/281535111743100