“All in all you’re just another brick in the wall” – Pink Floyd
A lot of us have only heard the stories of the student uprising of June 1976 from our parents, aunts, uncles and various documentaries as well as movies that have been released over the years. In recent times, various corners of society have come out to chastise the youth about how they choose to commemorate days such as Youth Day, and as much as we can create the posters, quote the youth leaders of the time and organise days of commemoration with many a speech given, it is important to start having open and honest conversation about Youth Day in our schools.
Our education system has its current challenges and year after year there are efforts being made to resolve them and we have to acknowledge that South Africa has done a great deal in ensuring that its citizens are educated. Youth Day, the day we remember the young lives lost for the children of this nation to be afforded the opportunity of being educated in English and in later years for a future generation to be educated in former Model C schools. It is a day that needs to be understood and discussed in the classrooms, beyond just learning and reciting the names of the many individuals involved and the schools that they came from.
Learners, whether in primary, high school and even tertiary institutions, should be taught about the reasons behind the day, how it came about and be asked whether or not they would be able to do something similar to what the youth of the time did – stand up and speak out for a cause they truly believed in, even if they stood alone. June 16 can be seen to be the embodiment of the spirit of the youth of the time - how they felt, what they spoke about and what they wanted to change within the society they lived in.
Each generation of youth has its own cause that they fight on a daily basis and also the manner in which they fight is quite different!
Schools have been able to share the history lessons of Youth Day in the greater sense of South African history, but perhaps it’s time to ask the youth of today, what their Youth Day looks like. What are the issues / concerns / struggles that they encounter on a daily basis – and how they are becoming more active citizens and finding solutions to these problems? The June 1976 student body possessed certain characteristics and qualities that the youth of today can learn from, including one of servant-leadership, which any of us can use in any are of our lives.
41 years ago, more than 15 000 students in Soweto gathered at Orlando West Secondary School with the intention of being part of peaceful march to the nearby Orlando Stadium. That march was anything but peaceful once police and armed forces responded in the manner in which they did. There is a lesson in that event that was reported on worldwide, is it not time to talk about that lesson? As the lessons learnt, can stand all of us in good stead in various areas of our lives, in school, our family life and in the working world, because “Youth has no age” (Pablo Picasso).
Nelson Mandela once said that “Sometimes, it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom,” is it not time to allow the generation that walks through the halls of many of our nation’s schools, be given that room to be great? However they need to be empowered, taught not only the book smarts but also the life smarts where they are adequately equipped to face life’s challenges in a manner they can not only survive but forge a new path for the generation that will come after them will continue to walk on.
You might want to read about how students live up to their teacher’s expectations.