{"id":814,"date":"2020-10-06T18:08:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T16:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/?page_id=814"},"modified":"2025-10-18T14:01:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T12:01:38","slug":"challenges","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/en\/about\/challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenges of children and youth in South African townships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p id=\"challenges\">Children and youth in South Africa suffer various challenges. The most vulnerable and most affected are the poor communities. Below you find a few statistics that highlight some of these challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img  title=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"367\" src=\"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/drug-ministry-3-1024x683.jpg\"  alt=\"drug-ministry-3-1024x683 Challenges of children and youth in South African townships\"  class=\"wp-image-367\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img  title=\"\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-id=\"365\" src=\"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_3799-1024x768.jpg\"  alt=\"IMG_3799-1024x768 Challenges of children and youth in South African townships\"  class=\"wp-image-365\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Children and youth of South Africa <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Statistics South Africa<a href=\"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/about\/challenges\/#ref\" class=\"rank-math-link\">[1]<\/a> and the Optimus Study<a href=\"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/about\/challenges\/#ref\" class=\"rank-math-link\">[2]<\/a> reveal alarming information about children and youth of our country:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li> 63% of South Africa\u2019s youth is <strong>unemployed <\/strong>(at beginning of 2019).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Research has indicated that the youth face high risks of being vulnerable to <strong>crime<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>35.4% children (every third child) have experienced some form of <strong>sexual abuse<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>12.2% young people reported having experienced some form of <strong>neglect<\/strong> during their lifetime.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>81% of grade 4 learners in South Africa cannot read for meaning in any language (2021).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The department of social development<a href=\"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/about\/challenges\/#ref\" class=\"rank-math-link\">[3]<\/a> reveals that 29% of youth admitted past month binge<a href=\"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/about\/challenges\/#ref\" class=\"rank-math-link\">[4]<\/a> <strong>drinking<\/strong>. Further challenges in the township mentioned by schools and day care centres are <strong>teenage pregnancies<\/strong>, <strong>substance abuse, physical abuse<\/strong> and <strong>the absence of fathers\/father figures.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Impact and consequences for the future generation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The impact\nand consequences for our children and youth are devastating:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Unemployment<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The unemployed lose their <strong>self-esteem<\/strong>, <strong>purpose<\/strong> and <strong>sense of achievement<\/strong>. &nbsp;Increased <strong>depression<\/strong> and <strong>other health issues<\/strong> affect the concerned. In addition, unemployment is a major contributor to <strong>crime<\/strong>.<a href=\"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/about\/challenges\/#ref\" class=\"rank-math-link\">[5]<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Violence and abuse<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>People, who\nare exposed to violence and abuse, may suffer a variety of consequences. These\nmay include <strong>injuries<\/strong> and mental\nhealth problems, such as <strong>anxiety<\/strong>, <strong>depression<\/strong> and <strong>post-traumatic stress disorder<\/strong>. Many children,\nwho are abused, both physically and sexually, grow up with a&nbsp;<strong>very low self-esteem<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>poor\nimage problems<\/strong>. They <strong>fall behind in\nschool<\/strong>. They continue to <strong>engage in sexual\nactivity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bring back hope to the township<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery alignleft has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img  title=\"\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"791\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"366\" src=\"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/HOPE-Recovered-791x1024.jpg\"  alt=\"HOPE-Recovered-791x1024 Challenges of children and youth in South African townships\"  class=\"wp-image-366\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"ref\">Statistics South Africa<a href=\"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/about\/challenges\/#ref\" class=\"rank-math-link\">[6]<\/a> recommends to establish and increase access to a wide range of <strong>recreational facilities<\/strong> and services of particular interest to young people in order to prevent involvement in crime. In terms of unemployment they suggest to create enabling environments that attract young people into <strong>starting businesses<\/strong>. Creating an enabling environment that will propel young people to consider <strong>education<\/strong> as the best tool to poverty alleviation. Furthermore they recommend providing <strong>vocational skills<\/strong> for unemployed youth, school leavers and graduates of tertiary institutions. <br><a id=\"ref\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">[1] Statistics South Africa, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.statssa.gov.za\">http:\/\/www.statssa.gov.za<\/a>, retrieved May 2019 <br>[2] Optimus Study South Africa: Technical Report, UBS Optimus Foundation, June 2016 <br>[3] National drug masterplan 2013-2017<br>[4] Binge: imbibed 5 \u201cdrinks\u201d or more within a few hours on 1 or more days<br>[5] <a href=\"https:\/\/smallbusiness.chron.com\/overall-effects-unemployment-37104.html\">https:\/\/smallbusiness.chron.com\/overall-effects-unemployment-37104.html<\/a>, retrieved July 2018 <br>[6] Statistics South Africa, Vulnerable Groups Series I:The Social Profile of the Youth, 2009-2014, Report 03-19-01<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Children and youth in South Africa suffer various challenges. The most vulnerable and most affected are the poor communities. Below [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":9,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-814","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2173,"href":"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/814\/revisions\/2173"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoperecovered.org.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}