Youngsters ‘don’t lack moral fibre’

YOUNG people in Namibia are not as bad as their elders believe, as many of them do voluntary work in their communities or do their country proud in music, art and sport, a Member of Parliament has said.

“Young people are just the victims of a sick society, but unfortunately young people are always the scapegoat,” Pohamba Shifeta, the Deputy Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, said in his contribution to debate on the lack of morality and respect for elders. He said parents and community leaders often set a bad example for their children, as they abdicated responsibilities such as parental guidance and moral education.This was the root cause of poor discipline among children and teenagers, according to Shifeta.”Instead, some use corporal punishment as disciplinary measure.But many of us see children under 12 years, who have a home and parents, roaming around streets, shebeens and gambling houses as late as 23h00,” Shifeta criticised.Often traditional leaders were passive and allowed shebeens and cuca shops to mushroom in their communities, causing uncontrolled alcohol abuse among children and young people.”You (as a parent) tell children not to insult each other in the house, but you insult your wife and other contemporaries in their presence.You tell your children not to abuse alcohol, but you come home every weekend heavily intoxicated and unable to walk and your children are present.”You tell young people to respect the norms and customs, but you only observe these when it suits you.You neglect and sometimes abuse your children, but expect that they will take care of you when you are old.”Shifeta said children could not do their homework properly because the noise from adjacent shebeens affected their concentration.When children complained to their parents about this, parents silenced them and said that the profits from the shebeen paid for their education.”We create conditions and situations for moral decay and destruction, but we blame the youth and children.”Branding young people as a problematic population group does not solve the problem, but rather promotes the generation gap and an adversarial relationship between youths and elders.”He said his ministry had started a pilot credit project in the four north-central regions during 2005, which granted young people loans to become entrepreneurs.He said parents and community leaders often set a bad example for their children, as they abdicated responsibilities such as parental guidance and moral education.This was the root cause of poor discipline among children and teenagers, according to Shifeta.”Instead, some use corporal punishment as disciplinary measure.But many of us see children under 12 years, who have a home and parents, roaming around streets, shebeens and gambling houses as late as 23h00,” Shifeta criticised.Often traditional leaders were passive and allowed shebeens and cuca shops to mushroom in their communities, causing uncontrolled alcohol abuse among children and young people.”You (as a parent) tell children not to insult each other in the house, but you insult your wife and other contemporaries in their presence.You tell your children not to abuse alcohol, but you come home every weekend heavily intoxicated and unable to walk and your children are present.”You tell young people to respect the norms and customs, but you only observe these when it suits you.You neglect and sometimes abuse your children, but expect that they will take care of you when you are old.”Shifeta said children could not do their homework properly because the noise from adjacent shebeens affected their concentration.When children complained to their parents about this, parents silenced them and said that the profits from the shebeen paid for their education.”We create conditions and situations for moral decay and destruction, but we blame the youth and children.”Branding young people as a problematic population group does not solve the problem, but rather promotes the generation gap and an adversarial relationship between youths and elders.”He said his ministry had started a pilot credit project in the four north-central regions during 2005, which granted young people loans to become entrepreneurs.