Challenges Faced By Youth Need To Be Addressed Urgently

Monitor Editor | Monday April 23, 2018 11:55

The youth are a very important segment of our society. They are indeed our future leaders if the statistics provided by Statistics Botswana are anything to go by. We are indeed headed for a big challenge, that if not nipped in the bud, would wreak havoc in years to come.

The report indicates that the accused in murder hearings were concentrated within age groups of 20 to 24, 35 to 39, with age group 30 to 34 leading the pack by 22%. It further states that age groups 25 to 29 followed closely with 21.3% and 35 to 39 accounting for 18.7% of all recorded murder cases in the year 2016. There were less than one percent of murder cases in age group 60 and above.

The Statistics Botswana report states that from their analysis it was evident that besides murder most offences occur among age groups 20 to 24 up to 40 to 44 whilst other groups show the lowest percentages.

The youth in Botswana are faced with many challenges, the major ones being unemployment and poverty. Whilst we are not trying to come up with excuses for the youth, for what may be considered to be ‘wayward’ behavior, it is very important for all stakeholders to come together and do thorough research of what might be the cause of youth delinquency. There are other issues, which might be contributory factors; issues such as excessive alcohol and substance abuse, hence the need for concerted efforts to curb the social ills before they spiral out of control.

While this may not be true for everyone, most people who end up being heavily dependent on alcohol or drugs, use them as self-medication so as not to think about the challenges they face in life. Many people have the wrong perception that alcohol or drugs relieve stress, making them forget their problems for the little bit of time that they are under the influence, when in fact consumption of such in order to run away from challenges, worsens the situation.

Let us, for argument sake, say the youth commit these crimes under the influence of either. It is clear that our youth maybe using alcohol as comfort for the stressful environment they find themselves in. We call on all stakeholders to hurriedly come together to address the situation.