Apartheid laws created the misery that SAâs children and their caregivers find themselves in
By Neziswa Titi, Childrenâs Institute of UCT
2h ago
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In the last year, we have seen worrisome media reports of children bullying each other. The public has expressed grave concern with calls for schools to take action against children who violate their peers. In one particular case, we witnessed the detrimental psycho-social effects of bullying which can lead to suicide or children being unable to return to school.
The pervasive question lingering in the air, as if children are to blame, is, âWhy do children abuse each other?â
Rising unemployment and high food prices during the Covid-19 pandemic have pushed many South African households deeper into poverty – putting children at even greater risk.
The family of 12-year-old Lunamandla Sithonga from Site B in Khayelitsha, who has been missing since July 9 last year, is one of many who are suffering during National Child Protection Week.
Violence in the home is the greatest threat facing children in South Africa.
As the country observes Child Protection Week between 30 May and 6 June, experts say perpetrators of violence against children are often known to the victim.
“The idea of teaching children about stranger danger doesn’t work,” said Prof Shanaaz Mathews, director of the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town.
Mathews was part of a team of researchers that conducted the “Birth to Twenty” study which followed about 2,000 children in Gauteng, born in 1990, for close to 30 years. Findings showed that 99% of the children had either experienced or been exposed to violence.
The Children’s Institute said after a year during which millions were thrust into desperate poverty, the government took the shocking decision to limit the Child Support Grant increase to just R10.