The warning sign for parents are glaring. South African teenagers are in trouble, writes Leoni Bhengiat
For the past five years, teenagers in South Africa have been flocking to psychologists’ offices for help. And the pressure is still mounting.
“Two years ago I tried to commit suicide because I couldn’t cope anymore. Now I go for counselling twice a week. My parents don’t seem to care. They are so involved in their own lives that they sometimes forget about me. I may be 17 years old, but actually I do need them. It would help a lot if we could sit down together and discuss my problems, but we can’t because we aren’t close enough.
“Academically I’m completely bogged down. I have no time for myself anymore and find that a day just does not have enough hours in which to do everything I have to do. Apart from that, I also have to practice athletics every weekend and school holidays, otherwise I’ll be cut from the team.
“The peer pressure at school is very intense. Several of my friends drink and most of them smoke dagga. I don’t want to follow suit, but I also don’t want to be the odd one out. What should I do?”
These are the types of problems grade 9 learner, Johan Badenhorst* from Potchefstroom, struggles with. According to counsellors these are typical teenage problems.
Although South Africa lacks accurate statistics, psychologists agree that there has been an increase in teenagers visiting their offices over the past five years. LifeLineSA receives about 16 500 calls from distressed teenagers annually. And TeenLine, a helpline especially for teens, receives approximately 300 calls per month.
According to psychologists, teenagers’ problems are equal to those of adults. They have the same workload as their parents and mostly the same responsibilities.
The high divorce rate among South African parents also adds to the woes of the teens. About 35 000 divorces are granted each year and this affects at least 46 000 minors. The disintegration of the traditional family causes teenagers to feel that their parents don’t really take enough notice of them.
All these factors can lead to suicide. At least 250 South African youths under the age of 21 commit suicide each year.
Each year at least 300 teenagers are treated at the Weskoppies hospital’s youth division in Pretoria for attempted suicide while the child and teenage unit at Chris Hani hospital in Johannesburg sees more than 700 teens for similar problems.
According to the World Health Organisation, South Africa has the eighth highest teenage suicide rate in the world with about six suicides for every 100 000 teenagers.
Andre Vos, a child psychologist from Potchefstroom, says parents have lost control over their children. And because children can’t be controlled, more and more of them are seeking refuge in drugs and alcohol. At least 3,8 million learners – one in every three – will experiment with drugs this year, and one in every six will become dependent. Psychological help for teenagers aged 12 to 18 with drug problems increased by 37,5% during the past 18 months.
A study by the Human Sciences Resource Council three years ago revealed that South Africa had the second highest incidence of child molestation in Africa. The study, which investigated 4 000 children over a period of four years, found that 62% had been abused. Reported child rape had increased by at least 200%.
Aids is also putting pressure on children as more and more parents are falling victim to the deadly disease – leaving thousands of orphans to cope on their own. In the Khutsong township near the small mining community of Carletonville in the Vaal Triangle, 800 Aids orphans are struggling alone without any adult supervision or help.
Experts agree that a real effort has to be made to assist troubled teens. They suggest that churches and the community should get more involved and that special programmes showing young people how to live life, should be developed. Parents should put their children first when they are contemplating divorce. The family structure should be healed, otherwise the teens can’t be healed.
* Name has been changed to protect identity.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, September 2001.