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PsySSA Commemorates International Youth Day 2021: Who we are is more important than what we are: Reflecting on International Youth Day

PsySSA Commemorates International Youth Day 2021: Who we are is more important than what we are: Reflecting on International Youth Day

by | Aug 12, 2021 | Child and Adolescent Psychology, Community and Engagement, COVID-19

We frequently ask children, ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ More accurately the question is ‘what profession do you want to pursue?’ Doctor, lawyer, nurse, and teacher are the top of our minds when we ask this question. While we think within these vocational parameters’ children speak of a world not limited by our knowledge of how the world works. Children speak of being things other than a profession, for instance, a friend’s four-year-old son wants to be a truck, more specifically a fire truck, this he is certain is his destiny. It may be possible for him with the advances in technology and the merge between the biological and the mechanical, but he may also be communicating something else to his mother. I think the question is not what he wants to be, but rather who he wants to be the type of person he wants to become. That is a person who is there for others in times of need, caring, and strong.

The United Nations theme for this years’ International Youth Day is Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health. Food insecurity is rife globally often disproportionately affecting people in the developing world, and as most people in these parts of the world are young food insecurity affects them the most. This year’s theme places youth participation at the centre of innovations in food systems.

In many areas of life young people are being left out, decisions taken about their futures without their participation. However, young people from around the world have resisted this status quo, forging new ways in the world, a world that is based on equity and equality, rather than the professions people occupy. Illustrated in the RhodesMustFall movements that began in South Africa and spread to other parts of the world, to the climate activism of such people a Vanessa Nakate and Grater Thunberg. We have seen young people speak against social injustice when it comes to food security and innovation such as Navina Khanna, who focus on the importance of sustainability in food systems.

This year’s youth day theme is a call to think about a world where children can be anything they imagine but also a reminder that young people have the capacity to create and sustain the world they imagine. Food security and innovation offer room for young people to have a voice in issues of land distribution, poverty and nutrition, farm labour, distribution, and logistics. Thus, not only placing the youth at the centre of food systems and innovation but also placing food innovation and security at the centre of the possibilities.

Author: Dr Sipho Dlamini 

PsySSA Executive Member

NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK 2021 – 10 TIPS TO KEEP OUR CHILDREN SAFE AS THEY TRAVEL TO AND FROM SCHOOL

NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK 2021 – 10 TIPS TO KEEP OUR CHILDREN SAFE AS THEY TRAVEL TO AND FROM SCHOOL

by | May 30, 2021 | Child and Adolescent Psychology, Community and Engagement, Community Engagement, Mental Health Advocacy

Travelling to and from school can be very dangerous without proper parental care and supervision.

 SaferSchools suggest the following steps to keep our children safe:

(https://www.saferschools.co.za/travelling-to-and-from-school/)

  1. Map out with your children a safe way for them to walk to school or to the bus/ taxi/ transport service stop. Try to avoid busy roads and intersections as well as areas that are too isolated. Do a trial run with them to point out places they should avoid along the way, such as vacant lots, construction areas, and parks where there aren’t many people.
  2. Encourage children to walk to school or the bus stop with a sibling, friend or familiar adults, and to wait at bus stops with other children. Familiarize yourself and be social with the neighbours who live on your street, as they can also be an extra set of eyes for you. Ask them to walk with your child when possible.
  3. Remind children not to talk on their phones or play games whilst walking or traveling. Their phones should not be visible at all and they should pay attention to their surroundings.
  4. Organize supervised walking groups in your neighbourhood where adults take turns to walk groups of children to school or to their transport stops.
  5. Teach children to follow traffic signals and rules when walking or biking. Stress that they should cross the street at crosswalks or intersections with crossing guards when they can.
  6. Teach children to not make unnecessary conversation with strangers, go anywhere with them, or accept gifts from them without your permission. Tell them that if they see a suspicious stranger hanging around, or in their school, they should tell an adult.
  7. Help children memorize their phone number and full address. Write down other important phone numbers such as your work and cell phone on a card for your children to carry with them.
  8. If your child walks to school, ensure that they are well equipped for all weather conditions; a nice umbrella to use if it suddenly starts to rain – the weather often changes during the course of the day, and you might not be there to drive them home. During the rainy season, be sure to invest in a rain coat for them – it will make them look cool, as well as save them from getting wet.
  9. If you are making use of a transport service, ensure that the company is reputable. Provide them with all your contact details and ensure that you know the routes and schedules the follow.
  10. Teach your child basic self-protection techniques.
NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK 2021 – COVID-19 AND EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR

NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK 2021 – COVID-19 AND EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR

by | May 27, 2021 | Child and Adolescent Psychology, Community and Engagement, Community Engagement, COVID-19, Mental Health Advocacy

2020 is a year best forgotten for the infamous  COVID-19 Virus  pandemic unleashing its fatal fury on the entire World. No country was spared as this unseen formidable foe  swathe nation after nation with death and socio-economic destruction. So devastatingly contagious that the earthly planet was plunged  into an unprecedented Lockdown to prevent human contact and transmission. Such an extreme response left in its wake incalculable disaster in almost every sphere of Life.

Highly developed, developing and under-developed countries were not spared the crushing  effects of the unrelenting Virus. However,  it is argued that the greatest ruinous  effects are felt in the so-called vulnerable population. In general, the Informal Sector, but in particular school-going children.

Children from the Informal Sector traditionally experience abject poverty,  gross deficiency and a poor quality  of life under the most compromised conditions. The one saving Grace is that medical experts hold that at present children are not the most susceptible to the effects of the Virus. They are still not immune to the Virus but present with less severe symptoms. The myriad of deleterious and ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is beyond the scope of this attenuated brief.

Unemployed parents from the  Informal Sector who themselves lowly schooled and struggling to eke out an existence play little or no beneficial roles in promoting their children’s educational  progress during this extraordinary crisis. Domestic social ills further reduce the poorly performing academic levels of the latter.

In addition, sudden and unplanned school-closure precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic was bound to profoundly impact children from the Informal Sector.  Large numbers of these children attend poorly resourced schools. It is not likely that such schools adequately prepared their impressionable charges for any transition to a  highly deprived  home environment.

It is moot to what extent so-called remote learning was a reality with these seriously disadvantaged  children. Further, a lack of electricity and the unavailability of technology like computers, wi-fi and internet connectivity make online learning impossible. Hard copy notes and worksheets were not readily supplied. The March to September 2020 Lockdown has exacerbated what is already a parlous    household situation. Without any or adequate educational stimulation these ill-equipped children are bound to have cumulative learning loss.  The unequal access of technology is likely to have widened the learning gap. The  return to school was necessary but almost perfunctory. The classroom contact time was reduced  and almost halved with the Curriculum inevitably syncopated.  The Testing programme did not encompass the breath of the Curriculum and it can be conjectured that there could have been relaxation with promotion and progression requirements. It is true that all children experienced the same scenario. The convenience of the adjusted school arrangements definitely does not enhance the academic well-being of children from impoverished and depressed  socio-economic environments. Will these environmentally impaired children ever:

  • …return to any semblance of normalcy?
  • …cope with navigating the transition from school to the demanding home circumstance?
  • …realise their full cognitive potential in an uncertain future?

There is no reference  to  the disruption in the lives of LSEN children who are so-called not neuro-typical. Their unyielding circumstances is a subject for its own discussion.

We are inextricably linked to the business of Education. It behooves all Psychologists, let alone Educational Psychologists to contribute to the re-building in such children’s engagement, highlight  the overwhelming  plight of such desperate children,  play advocacy roles and mitigate the tremendous risks  for one of the most neglected sectors of this vulnerable  population especially during Child Protection Week and always.

Dr N Chetty-Educational Psychologist.  SEPSA Vice-Chairperson. May 11,2021.

NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK 2021 – Keeping Our Children Safe

NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK 2021 – Keeping Our Children Safe

by | May 27, 2021 | Child and Adolescent Psychology, Community and Engagement, Community Engagement, Mental Health Advocacy

KEEPING OUR CHILDREN SAFE

Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.

 – Walt Disney

Children are our future. It is therefore our responsibility to care for and protect our children so that they can be become responsible adults who in turn, take care of their children and future.  We need to work together to build cultures of caring, respect, and safety for everyone in our families, schools, youth organizations, religious institutions, companies, and other groups.

Individuals as well as organizations need to know how to take charge of the safety of the young people in their care and how to stop abuse, bullying, harassment, and other dangerous behaviour by doing the following:

  1. Put safety first
    • Make all forms of emotional and physical violence and abuse explicitly and publicly against the rules.
    • Everyone needs to know what safe behaviour is and what is not, including hygiene, supervision of activities, driving, swimming, personal safety, and so on.
    • Everyone needs to know what the rules are about safe and appropriate behaviour and what the consequences are of not upholding the rules.
    • Adults should be in charge of keeping kids safe. We want children to take charge of their own safety as best they can, but the bottom line is that adults are responsible for ensuring that children are protected from harm until they are able to protect themselves. In any case, it is NEVER the child’s fault if an adult does something unsafe.
  1. Make it safe for everyone to speak up.
    • Children need to know that unsafe behaviour, especially by an adult in charge, should NEVER have to be a secret, even if you already promised to keep it a secret.
    • Speaking up takes both skill and courage. Even young children can learn how to stay, “Please stop.” Or, “That’s not safe!” And young people can learn that it is never too late to tell.
    • Children need to know where or whom to go to, to report unsafe behaviour. They have to know that it is OK to be persistent in getting the help they need. Children should learn how to find adults who will listen and how to keep asking until an adult helps to solve the problem.
  1. Uphold the rules in a fair, equitable fashion
    • Have clear agreements and rules about what is and is not safe or appropriate in your environment.
    • Have appropriate consequences for unsafe behaviour and communicate those consequences clearly.
    • No one is above the rules – no matter their position of power, prestige or privilege.

LET’S ALL WORK TOGETHER IN

KEEPING OUR CHILDREN SAFE

https://www.keepingchildrensafe.global

NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK 2021

NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK 2021

by | May 26, 2021 | Child and Adolescent Psychology, Community and Engagement, Community Engagement, Mental Health Advocacy

National Child Protection Week is commemorated in the country annually to raise awareness of the rights of children as articulated in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and Children’s Act (Act No. 38 of 2005).

The aim of Child Protection Week (CPW) in South Africa is to raise awareness on the need to protect children against abuse, exploitation, neglect and all forms of violence.

South Africans can support Child Protection Week by ensuring that the most vulnerable in our society do not suffer abuse. We do this by not only educating our children about their rights, but also by educating the adults, parents, guardians and teachers who are responsible for protecting those rights.

  • Children need to know how to report abuse, how to stand up for and protect themselves, to refrain from bullying each other and engaging in illegal activities.
  • Families can be provided with parenting skills that prevents violence.
  • Religious and community leaders need to be positive role models and speak out against violence.
  • Health workers, social workers, teachers and other professionals need to be able to identify and refer children at risk to support services.
  • Police, social workers and the judiciary need to ensure that when children or families report violence, they get eh help they need. Effective, timely action must then be taken to keep them safe, and services be made available to support their recovery.

 

You can get help at:

  • Childline South Africa: 0800 055 555
  • Child Welfare South Africa: 0861 4 CHILD (24453) / 011 452-4110 / e-mail: info@childwelfaresa.org.za

 

Raising awareness on Child Rights during Child Protection Week | UNICEF South Africa

https://www.gov.za/ChildProtectionWeek2021

Teen Suicide Awareness Week – 14 – 21 February 2021

Teen Suicide Awareness Week – 14 – 21 February 2021

by | Feb 17, 2021 | Child and Adolescent Psychology, Community and Engagement, Mental Health Advocacy

 
 
This year for Teen Suicide Prevention Week (14-21 Feb), our message is clear – Your worth as a person is NOT determined by your Matric results!
 
With only a few days left until Matric results are released, many are feeling quite a bit more emotional than normal. Remember that the Grade 12’s of 2020 had to write these exams in the midst of a pandemic – something none of us have ever done before. Be kind, be gentle, and be accepting of your results.