Give it up for the kids

2008-09-03 12:23

Chris Roper

Who knew. It appears that not all kids are verminous, sulky little brats who need a kick up the backside to get them going. And not all kids are self-obsessed, bling-hungry rats whose only aim is to get some token "eddication" and jump on the BEE bandwagon like their uncle Julius.

Well, I ask "who knew". The answer, of course, is the hundreds of fantastic teachers and lecturers who fight every day to give children the luxury to be able to think instead of react, and the ability to create their futures instead of just sitting around hoping they have one.

Dylan, one such educator (and someone whom I'm proud to have taught at university myself), has sent me an open letter, written by fifteen young people from "five diverse schools in the Western Cape (two township schools, a private school and one very diverse former Model-C school)."

The fifteen were taking part in a seminar called "facing the past - transforming our future." It's part of a programme "which aims to support History teachers to use the case-studies of apartheid and Nazi Germany and the Holocaust to explore human behaviour and help young people to better understand the moral choices they make today."

Voices heard

The letter goes on to say that "the learners spent some time looking at the recent threats on our judiciary. The fifteen learners together came up with an open letter to make their voices heard against these attacks and what they saw as threats to our democracy.

" Much of their inspiration to take a stand arose out of their discussion that afternoon with Denis Goldberg, who as I am sure you already know, along with Nelson Mandela, was sentenced to four life terms in prison at Rivonia and spent 22 years in jail for taking a stand in support of human rights and democracy."

At this point, before I present you with an excerpt from the students' open letter, I want you to think of the "youth" that's top of mind for most people in the last few months, ANC Youth League president Julius "Mad Enema" Malema. Dylan tells me that one of the incentives for the high school learners' open letter was that "We have not heard young people speak up against those who are claiming to speak on behalf of the youth of South Africa."

Well, looks like that's changing, so Julius, better watch your back, baby. To quote from aKing's Dutch Courage (great band, go check out a video now, "Keep your hands off the children, they're fighting for air/Dig a grave and mourn about your culture instead/There's a holy train coming and it's leaving you here.")

Change

Not so sure about the "holy train" bit, but hell, it's better than the damn gravy train. Here are excerpts from the open letter.

"We, as youth of South Africa, are disturbed and concerned by recent events in our country and wish to make our voices heard that we will not tolerate violations of human rights and threats to our fragile democracy."

And: "We are also deeply troubled by recent threats raised against the judiciary and our constitution. An independent judiciary is a crucial part of what holds our democracy together and prevents us from descending into dictatorship. We condemn anyone who speak of violence toward the upholders of justice and democracy in this country."

Here's the bit I love, although I'm sure Julius Malema uses the same justification for his Kill for Zuma outbursts. "We reserve the right to raise our opinions against any political leader and speak out. This freedom of speech is what our heroes fought and died to give us and we will not be scared of using it."

Rainbow roster

The letter is signed by the following students, and I'm going to list all their names, because it's an almost ludicrous Rainbow Roster. In fact, I phoned to check that Dylan hadn't just made them up, like some Human Rights Spice Girls. Especially since one appears to be the lead singer for The Usual, and I know he must be at least as old as Uncle Julius.

They are Yanga Maxongo, Dominique Dryding, James Stewart, Cindy Damons, Nontando Mahote, Amoré Visser, Vuyani Ngangqu, Sakhile Khuzwayo, Sibusiseko Maseko, Lee Shacksnovis, Yandisa Velem, Zola Nyamela, Soala Amabeoku, Robert Atwell, Thomas Lytwynchuk.

I have to say, I love living in a place where Amore, Yanga, Sibusiseko and, uh, Thomas, can all work together on the same letter. At the same time, I hope the League of Fifteen are ready for the challenges they're going to face. You're going to be called race traitors, elitist, and worse. If alienating you doesn't work, they'll start offering you heavy discounts on Mercs and lovely kickbacks on selling ships.

But integrity is something that can be taught, and even if it's too late to teach it to the current crop of young political lickspittles, I'm happy to see that some of the next generation is being primed.

Read the full open letter here - it's worth it.

Chris Roper is editor-in-chief of 24.com. Visit his blog on chrisroper.co.za. No pressure.

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