AS WE BEGIN the month of April, South Africa hosts the second African Children’s Summit which runs from of April 4 to 7 in Parktown, Johannesburg. The intended outcome of the summit is to improve the development and strategy for the well-being of children from a holistic perspective. This can only be achieved through accurate documentation of children’s voices to address concerns related to their health, education, and safety in Africa. But central to each fact of well-being is parental or adult care and children’s rights.
Children’s Rights in South Africa is primarily driven by The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and they have taken the lead in the summit. The fund has a holistic focus as well and zooms in on four areas of children’s development, namely health, safety, and empowerment and leadership. The summit promises to be fruitful in addressing the concerns that children have in relation to their holistic well-being. The well-being of children also depends on the well-being of a society and its development.
The spread of the deadly HIV virus, as well as the global Covid-19 pandemic has contributed significantly to the increasing number of child-headed households. The children that have been left to fend for themselves in these instances and those that live with aging grandparents have huge responsibilities, which can include the need for them to care for their aged grandparents. Even though this scenario is a result of poverty and dire socio-economic circumstances, the impact is that the child have a different perspective and attitude to life, flawed by the ills he or she has experienced.
In these instances, children do not have the capacity to protect themselves from maltreatment, neglect, abuse, or degradation. Section 28 of the Bill of Rights, entitled "Children", clearly stipulates that every child has the right to family and parental care as well as appropriate alternative care when they are not within a family environment. In some instances, children are exposed to neglect and maltreatment within the familial homes, which are ideally deemed to be places where children experience love, safety and security. The objectives of the summit are to identify and document children’s experiences in Africa, but the solution to ensure children’s well-being is not one that is isolated from the rest of society.
South Africans needs to be fully informed and educated of what it means to raise a child appropriately and correctly. Family and social life are strong indicators in a child’s life and impacts the way a child matures as they transition into adulthood.
The future roles of a child in life are based on the socialisation outside of schools and tertiary educational institutions. A child develops their sense of responsibility from their parents and immediate socialisation circles. In addition, there needs to be a shift in thinking in relation to expected and correct behaviour patterns in a home that is raising children. This can only be achieved through awareness campaigns which highlight the consequences of children experiencing abuse, neglect and maltreatment.
Central to developing a strategy to the well-being of children is the well-being of adults too. Adults who choose to become parents need to be informed of the responsibilities of raising children.
The impact of criminal activity, rape and other deviant crimes all have a negative impact on the moral and social development of South African children. Often socio-economic factors and the historical influence of acceptable violence in our society have influenced people to engage in a variety of deviant behaviours.
There is no thought as to how this can negatively impact the children and future of our country. The process of socialisation and learning plays a huge role in developing a child that can add value as a good citizen to South Africa.
Children often learn the most from the adults around them and can easily mimic their behaviour.
The extent to which the socialisation process impacts early child development outside of schools and learning centres needs to be understood and then appropriately contextualised in our country. Personal habits, skills and attitudes are largely based on a socialisation processes and South Africans need to be aware of this.
The ideal outcome would be a detailed strategy to ensure that the family and social life compliments the educational structures, ethos and values for the collective development of a healthy well balanced South African citizen.
The ideal outcome of the summit would be to educate South Africans at large about the detrimental impact of their behaviour on our future generations and that learning happens outside of the classroom as well. The constitutional preamble is inclusive and indicates that children should not be placed at risk at any given point where their overall well-being is hindered.
At present, the increasing incidents of school violence, rape, crimes and corruption exposes every child to an unhealthy environment which can in turn impact their well-being, physical and mental health as well as their moral and social development. Policies that speak to development in South Africa cannot isolate children at any given point and there needs to be an immediate focus on why South Africans should be aware of the manner in which children are impacted morally and socially.
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