Early-intervention and school-based mental health services are crucial, said Donito Botha, youth ward committee leader of Ward 32, on the ongoing gang war, where youngsters are now more involved than adults. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said many youth involved in violent crime have experienced trauma or have untreated behavioural health issues, and family-support programmes, strengthening parenting skills and providing support to at-risk families, can help prevent future violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We need violence-interruption programmes, such as Cure Violence or Advance Peace, by trained community members, to intervene before violence occurs, often with direct ties to high-risk youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We need to connect minors with trusted adult mentors, vocational training and leadership opportunities to reduce the sense of isolation to improve future outcomes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Botha believes Atlantis lacks safe, youth-friendly spaces for after-school hours, such as libraries, recreation centres and youth clubs that provide supervised environments and reduce idle time leading to crime. The City of Cape Town programme for Ward 32, which Councillor Moosa Raise dedicated 21% of his budget to, gets the youth more involved and was well attended by learners from Robinvale High and Proteus High. It also took in mediation training to help the youth learn to resolve conflicts without violence, Botha said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said youth employment programmes such as Youth Works or sponsored initiatives that provide job skills, income and a responsibility could help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The police, Law Enforcement and Department of Justice should also engage our youth through dialogue programmes and build trust between them and at-risk youth,” Botha said. “Discipline starts at home, and parents who see their children hanging out or interacting with the wrong crowd should intervene before it’s too late. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Children should be disciplined if they are being naughty and privileges taken away. This is not a modern problem, but it requires modern solutions.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He urged communities not to be afraid to speak out. “We allow these things to happen because we remain silent. Our community can be fixed, but it’s up to us to do that. We can do all we want, but we need parents to stand with us, and we need to bring back the days of ‘your child is my child’, and discipline starts at home.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Early-intervention and school-based mental health services are crucial, said Donito Botha, youth ward committee leader of Ward 32, on the ongoing gang war, where youngsters are now more involved than 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