Being young in modern day South Africa

By Tshepo Bareetseng
Being young these days in South Africa seems expensive and hard. It means you have to wear some expensive clothes. A youngster who lives in Braamfischerville south western of Johannesburg Maggz Alzira (20) says he feels like he is living for the people, his appearance must always be on point. If I don’t wear nice clothes and have a smart phone I feel left out, I feel like am nothing where else my friends have them”, says Maggz.
Statistics South African National Council on Alcoholism (SANCA) show that a lot of ‘alcohol abusers’ are mostly likely to be the youth. the youth of democratic South Africa has all the resources of being highly educated and become better people in the future, but instead they decide to smoke and drink throw their future away.
According to Karabo Maoto who is also a young star from Johannesburg says today’s youth is not inspiring each other; instead they influence each other to do engage in wrong activities like partying, smoking, and having unprotected sex. Recently the MEC of Education of Gauteng Lesufi Panyaza has come up with the ‘paperless’ plan for the matriculants, it is supposed to help them pass to do their research at home, use free internet, but it looks like these tablets have brought trouble for the ones who walk long distances to home.
There have been cases already of learners being mocked. But then again looking at the positive side, being young means greatness: they can access Wi-Fi which is great since today’s youth love internet. These days being young in the modern South Africa good for those ones who can control their selves.
According to a reliable source today’s youth is highly educated than in previous decades due to the expansion of the youth educational opportunities. But then again considering the fact of the Rand becoming weak leaves a huge responsibility on the youth which is to study hard and work on more exportation. The government is doing its best to make things easy for the kids in terms of opportunities and education. But a quarter of them keep on ending at the prison or a rehabilitation centre.
“If the security of the country is killed, what about the ordinary people of the country?” asks an old lady of Dobsonville. The youth of the modern South Africa is mentally damaged due to what they watch on TV and see on the social media. Today’s youth says that they have rights and they can’t be controlled by someone else. Old Rosa Oramang (59) says that back in the day, they didn’t have rights and they did just fine and they knew what respect is, unlike today’s kids. “I am unemployed and my grandchild asks for R20 everyday for lunch just because his friends also have the same money”, says Rosa. It shows that there is peer-pressure and lack of understanding; they can’t accept that their parents cannot afford. Kids who were born after 1994, their country is way more civilised than the one their parents lived in.