Duo engages the youth with real talk
The duo, Lorraine de Jager, a professional psychologist and Mandy Venter, debriefer and mediator, co-founded a project that they call Real Talk, a concept which allows them to visit various schools in different areas to talk to learners about social ills affecting youngsters.
Two experienced and passionate women are on a mission to shape the socio-environmental issues affecting the youth by engaging them in real life conversations at local schools.
The duo, Lorraine de Jager, a professional psychologist, and Mandy Venter, debriefer and mediator, co-founded a project that they call Real Talk, a concept which allows them to visit various schools in different areas to talk to learners about social ills affecting youngsters.
“What we’ve done is put together a phenomenal programme for schools where we talk to learners about various challenging topics, for example drug and substance abuse, where we look into different addictions, whether it be alcohol, cyber space, pornography or even sex (some of these topics are strictly focused on high school learners),” said Lorraine, touching on just one aspect of their programme.
She added that they get learners to understand how certain addictions affect their brains and lives, especially at a younger age.
With this era demanding that everyone be techno-savvy, and many children misusing the internet and being exposed to restricted content, Lorraine and Mandy said part of their programme also offers advice to both children and parents about the dangers of technology.
“We talk to children about cyber space and also ensure that we educate the parents about it. The reason for this is that our generation played on the streets or at home when we were growing up, but it’s different for our children today because they are not outdoors. Their ‘streets’ are the cyber world, which many older generation parents do not understand, so with our programme, we try to teach them what the cyber world is all about,” she explained.
Mandy said that they also educate people about cyber bullying, as well as regular bullying, especially in schools. “We focus our programme on educating learners to accept individuals for who they are,” she explained.
She added that part of their programme is to role-play before a presentation, to show children the different types of social problems.
The programme has been running for two years, and this duo cannot wait to visit your school. For more information contact Lorraine on 071 892 6580, email rainpixie.louw@gmail.com or visit Real Talk (creating conversation with the youth) on Facebook.
