Wow, how ‘casual’ some readers are about litter, refuse or basic neatness of the community. It’s easy to blame the teachers for not monitoring the children who have been punished by being given litter duty!
Picking up after yourself is NOT a chore, it is having pride in your surroundings and yourself. My youngest one is being taught that picking up litter long enough will result in a positive reward, and this is at school…. And she loves the idea of that reward.
If you drive past houses in Horison, their yards are immaculate, but Horizon View Primary School is a pig-sty, and Die Adelaar High School looks like a rubbish dump once the taxis have vacated their new taxi rank. Why? Because “someone else will do it!” Children today are taught that the gardener or the domestic helper will clean up after them, so it’s ok to throw things down!
In my day, I was paid to clean up the yard, and do chores, but my room was my responsibility. When I walked down the street, I picked up papers and threw them in a bin, even if they weren’t mine. We used to hear “Zap it in the Zibi Can”, a nature-based reminder about our environment on radio and TV. Today we have a hand … A hand … what does that teach my child? That there are five different ways in which you can throw trash on the floor? Today, bins are weapons or items to steal, and not devices for refuse collection.
Parents, teach your children to be proud of their environment by keeping it clean, and then the schools can focus on teaching the children how to pass maths, science, history, English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Sotho for matric.
Charity begins at home, but so does discipline … Not abuse, but proper discipline.
