B-Metro
The holidays are upon us once again following an uninterrupted school term, a rare occurrence since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020 in these shores.
Covid-19
There are many challenges that schools and parents alike have faced since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the tight lockdowns, the school children’s movements were restricted and this was good as well as bad at the same time.
We believe that young people have a lot of energy that cannot be bottled up for long and that they need a managed outlet through which to let out the pressure.
Elsewhere in this edition we carry a story of juvenile delinquency seen through the return of Vuzu parties that some parents managed to sniff out as they were scheduled for the closing day of the second school term.
We believe that the Vuzu parties, though quite misguided and mischievous, could be a cry from young people for entertainment areas that suit their needs.
We have already mentioned that the young people are a ball of energy which if not well handled might self-destruct.
We believe a clampdown on Vuzu parties in the short term could seem to be a solution but in the long run we need to create spaces that are run in such a way that parents can be free to allow their children to patronise.
We cannot allow a situation such as what happened in Durban, South Africa, where teenagers died at a tavern while celebrating the end of examinations.
We need a solution regarding how we keep young people occupied productively.
We are this week celebrating the life of Cont Mhlanga for having come up with ways of taking the youth from the streets, first through karate, then drama and other performances.
He is being remembered for having addressed a challenge that he saw in the community.
Can our youth access clean entertainment that builds them into responsible adults, and should we not consult them on how their needs can be met because the parties and all sorts of crazy gatherings keep coming back in different forms, and exposing even younger children to decadence.
We urge parents to talk to their children and show them the dangers of these secretive outings so that we in the long run rely on their discipline based on correct information instead of overburdening the police force with being watchmen for our children during the holidays.
If there are adults behind the scenes directing these Vuzu parties they have to be exposed, especially those in the business of peddling drugs to the youth.
The proliferation of drugs and the scourge of wild sex parties is destroying many futures and the greater community, that we believe frowns upon such, needs to rise up and join hands with authorities in seeking solutions and also forming support groups for those already addicted to the drugs, some of them introduced at the wild parties.
