20 May 2018

Lack of self-discipline and self-respect among some of the in and out of school youth continues to be a challenge to the nation.

Such state of affairs has prompted both individuals and organisations to come up with ways of  addressing the matter.

One such individual is 40-year-old Mclean Gaethuse, the founder of Francistown’s White Tiger Kung-Fung Disciplinary School.

Working closely with the youth, particularly pre-schoolers, Gaethuse believes in catching them whilst young to instill acceptable behavioural practices through the use of the Chinese sporting code of Shaolin Kung-Fung.

Gaethuse said he chose Shaolin Kung-Fung as a means of encouraging good behaviour because it focused in self-discipline, respect, physical fitness, self-defence and temper control. In addition, it teaches participants how to ward off attackers such as rapists and thieves.

He clarified that Shaolin discouraged fighting and violence.

“Shaolin art does not encourage fighting and violence, rather it gives out tactics of respect and what to do when one is in a situation that can present danger,” he said.

Gaethuse said he worked closely with other stakeholders in an effort to teach youth to refrain from social ills.

On school vacations, he said the youth go on boot camps so that they have no time to roam the streets and fall prey to temptations of engaging in unbecoming behaviour.

“Our training sessions are conducted on a weekly basis on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and weekends after school hours,” he said.

Different professionals such as social welfare officials, police officers and nurses are invited to the boot camps so as to give advice on everyday life situations, he explained.

Another feature of the boot camp is that both the youth and minors embark on social responsibility activities such as taking care of the elderly and the sick selected from nearby villages.

“We expose the youth to activities that are real; we give them tasks such as taking care of the elders and sick people. We want to see their reactions to such matters,” he said.

Gaethuse said although he charged for the training, he has adopted pupils from Mabudzane and Senete primary schools as well as about 250 pupils from God’s Way, Kids Focus and Upper Yards pre-schools to expose them to acceptable behaviour practices.

The adopted schools are provided with stationary.

Gaethuse’s school also offers revision classes with the aim of improving academic performance.

“We offer after school revision sessions. We want our youth to have a good balance between their behavioural patterns and academics,” he said.

Gaethuse said five children from his school would travel to China on a bench-marking trip later this year to learn more and share experiences about Shaolin Kung-Fung Martial Arts. ENDS