07 Oct 2018

The deteriorating behaviour among young people is a national concern, therefore all the elderly are duty bound to guide youth accordingly.

The MP for Shoshong, Mr Dikgang Makgalemele, shared his concerns with the community of Bonwapitse during a kgotla meeting where he also called on parents to assist children to adopt positive behaviour.

“Let us engage in character building of our children at school and at home,” he said. Mr Makgalemele said students and out of school youth were equally affected and therefore parents must shift gear and arrest the deteriorating situation.

Mr Makgalemele, who is also the Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Culture Development said children must be moulded at a young age in order to grow responsibly.  

He said the school environment had clubs such as girl guides, boys scouts and scripture unions aimed at encouraging students to adopt positive behaviour.

“These bodies are important in character building of children. I believe it must be mandatory for students to join one of the bodies and I appeal to parents to encourage children to join one of the clubs,” he said.

On other issues relating to youth empowerment, Mr Makgalemele said government had put in place affirmative action plan favoring young people in businesses and those starting businesses.

In an effort to deal with the issue of shortage of land for young people wishing to engage in business, Mr Makgalemele said government had taken a deliberate decision to reserve 30 per cent of the open spaces to be used by young people.

He said 30 per cent in tenders for cattle chasing patrol along major roads and in maintenance and construction projects had been strategically set aside to benefit the youth.

Mr Makgalemele therefore appealed to the youth to act responsibly and avoid decisions likely to jeopardise their plans for the future.

He said engaging in drugs and alcohol will not in any way produce positive results.

He said while government and parents were doing their part in preparing for their future, young people must also play a role to augment such efforts.

Mr Makgalemele did concur that there were challenges affecting young people and therefore he urged them to take such challenges as motivation to do more to reach for their dreams. Ends