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Archive for the ‘On urGuard’ Category
YDF2 :: Crime Forum
Friday, March 25th, 2011On urGuard :: Responsible Rage
Friday, December 17th, 2010
The December holidays are a time for rewarding ourselves for a year of hard work. In the wake of exams, particularly if they’re the last ones we’ll write at school, we often find ourselves swept into a frenzy of hedonistic behaviour. Having been hunched over our text books and locked up in the library, we feel that we owe it ourselves to make up for lost party time. It is from this strange logic that South African youth have cooked up the idea of the Matric Rage. By all accounts, South Africa’s school leavers deserve a notable celebration to mark the giant leap from school to university or the working world. The only worry, however, is that sinister elements inadvertently creep into school-leaving celebrations. Most of the time, an irresponsible use of alcohol lies at the heart of the dark side of Matric Rage activities, manifesting itself in drunk-driving and other forms of reckless behaviour. The sad thing is that the fun only stops when its too late.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE MATRIC RAGE? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH YOUR FRIENDS AFTER YOUR FINAL EXAMS? WAS IT A WELL-DESERVED CELEBRATION, AN IRRESPONSIBLE MESS OR SOMEWHERE IN-BETWEEN? DO WE, SOUTH AFRICA’S YOUTH, KNOW HOW TO ENJOY OURSELVES RESPONSIBLY OR DO WE SKIRT A DANGEROUS PATH ON THE BRINK OF DISASTER?
On urGuard :: Social [Sex] Working
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
Cellphones with cameras, everyone from grandmothers to pre-teens have them these days but they seem to be most dangerous in the hands of high school pupils. The proof lies in a string of explicit, sexual videos and pictures being distributed in and out of schools around the country. The most frightening part is that teenagers are producing and posing in it themselves, without realising the devastating consequences that come with it.
My Reputation was Ruined!
In November last year, Johannesburg newspaper, The Star, tracked down a girl who had appeared on one of several cellphone videos that were being circulated around Gauteng, showing herself in lurid sexual acts filmed after a binge drinking session. When the reporter interviewed Mpho* (not her real name), she had already left school because everyone kept bringing it up and teachers had told her to keep quiet in class because a girl who has videos of herself having sex has nothing to say. “I feel like I’m on another planet. I have no dignity left so I stay at home, away from the world,” she was quoted as saying. But while Mpho’s situation wasn’t intentional as she was too drunk to even remember it the next day, there are other teens who see this as a business opportunity.
urView :: Fighting Crime Together
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
urView is a recurring feature on the Bokomosa Ba Rona Blog. What’s your take on things? Use comments to leave your thoughts about the discussion below.
It’s easy to dismiss crime by saying that it’s the responsibility of the police. They’ll take care of it while I get along with my life in peace, one might say. When crime disrupts the peace in our lives, however, it often changes our perspective on the subject and we makes more pro-active. Sadly, discovering that fighting crime is often about stopping it before it happens is a lesson that we learn too late. While the police play a vital role in maintaining law and order, every citizen has a responsibility to “police” our own communities. This is often as simple as getting to know our neighbours and communicating our concerns with them as well as avoiding the “wrong” crowd and seeing through their idea of what’s cool. Crime stops when we all become a little more vigilant.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HAD A SERIOUS CONVERSATION WITH YOUR PEERS ABOUT CRIME? WHAT CONCLUSIONS DID YOU DRAW? HOW DOES CRIME AFFECT YOU? WHAT DO YOU DO TO ENSURE THAT YOUR COMMUNITY REMAINS CRIME-FREE? HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET TO KNOW YOUR LOCAL POLICE? HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO REPORT CRIME? ARE CERTAIN CRIMES MORE ACCEPTABLE THAN OTHERS? WHERE DO WE DRAW THE LINE?
Ambassador Feature :: Sapho Wulana
Saturday, September 18th, 2010
“Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well.” Aristotle
“Just as a flower, which seems beautiful has color but no perfume, so are the fruitless words of a man who speaks them but does them not.” Dhammapada
Crime hogs the headlines in South Africa and the country’s reputation as a crime capital stretches far and wide. Crime is a prominent issue in our country. South Africa has a high rate of murders, assaults, rapes, and other crimes compared to most countries. South Africa also has a bad record for when compared to industrialized countries, a lot of crime happens in the townships such as Khayelitsha, Gugulethu etc, this is also where poverty strikes in all corners and the sad thing is that, the people that are involved first hand in these crimes are the young people, where our future depends. We now have to ask ourselves if where we are really going.
Pep Talk :: Gayton McKenzie
Friday, September 17th, 2010
At the height of his gangster career, former bank robber and now motivational speaker Gayton McKenzie made the choice to change his life.
After witnessing the brutal rape of a young boy in prison, Gayton McKenzie and three friends smuggled a video camera into prison and recorded the corrupt warders who allowed these brutal crimes to continue inside the prison walls. After their film was aired, McKenzie was let out early on parole but, as a former criminal, was forced to crawl his way back into society. Today he is a motivational speaker at schools and companies where he encourages people to make “the right choice.” Here he speaks about why a life of crime just isn’t worth it.
The Vice
Money is one of the main factors that lured me towards a life of crime. Even though my father was an honest man, it was rare to see someone decent and successful in the area that I grew up in. The only wealthy “role models” I saw were gangsters with nice cars, girls and lots of bling. That’s when crime became a career choice for me.
Ambassador Feature :: Christine Grobler on Crime
Thursday, September 16th, 2010
The definition of crime is simply put as to perform an unlawful act. Yet I find it quite alarming at how such a simple word has gripped an entire nation.
“When we hear about crime one reacts in the two following ways. First reaction: One is very worried to the point of cursing the government and then charging around the neighborhood with the neighborhood watch as if you were Rambo in your past life. The second reaction is to roll your eyes and change the channel. However, a strange epiphany occurs when we experience crime personally. The news becomes so much more significant and crime seems ever so more tactile. It is even sometimes how South Africans relate, via crime stories. I do wonder if we can rather relate in the same way, in terms of fighting crime than just being the victims. I do however commend those who do neither who actually are actively involved in the fight against crime.
On urGuard :: Crime Time News
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
Malan Jacobs chats to the Boka Blog about exposing crime on his website True Crime Expo… one click at a time!
Why did you start True Crime Expo and what is it about?
I am currently a third-year BComm Law student at Stellenbosch University and I started True Crime Expo in August 2006 to give people around the world a more realistic perspective on crime in South Africa, rather than the sensationalized view held by some many. The website features regular articles from various news sources and invites feedback from people willing to share their views.
How do you feel about crime in our country?
I feel the degradation of moral fibre in our society is very worrying. Many of our leaders are not setting a good example and I want to encourage youth to live lives of integrity and be resilient in that, which is not always easy but can be developed. SA is a country plagued by corruption and self-enrichment at the expense of society at large so it’s important that we encourage ourselves to keep the rule of law, even for small things such as stopping at a read robot.
Un-Armed Response :: Intuition
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
Chat to a few people who have been attacked and one of the comments you’ll here is that they didn’t see it coming.
South African self-defence expert Sanette Smit says that the main reason people are caught off-guard is because we’re not taking enough notice of the surroundings when we’re out. “If you’re out walking with your iPod blaring in your ears, there’s no way you’ll hear an attacker coming,” she says. “And this is what criminals look for when selecting a target, distracted people.”
Mind Tools
Prevention is better than cure. For most of us, this cliché is a warning our parents have been issuing for years to warn us against germs. But the popular saying applies to more than just our health and, in some situations, could even save your life
urProblems :: Crime
Monday, September 13th, 2010
Although the World Cup did much to change international perceptions about South Africa, crime is on people’s minds when they think about South Africa… and for good reason! The issue of crime affects all South Africans and it’s something that we can’t deny. In fact, crime is one of the issues that South Africa’s youth are most concerned about. Check out the results of the Bokamoso Ba Rona Youth Campaign Survey conducted on MXit here. This week we turn our attention to crime on the Boka Blog by bringing you information about self-defence, insights from a former gangster and a look at what one young South African is doing about bringing attention to the issue. Christine Grobler and Sapho Wulana are our featured ambassador writers this week and the Scalabrini Centre provides information to help us understand Xenophobia.
