Wikipedia:WikiAfrica/Stubs/Youth in South Africa

In South Africa, the National Youth Policy defines youth as any persons between the ages of 14 and 35 years. South Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world at 24.9 years. This is both a major opportunity and a major risk. This is one of the lowest in the world and certainly lower than most large emerging economies (such as the BRIC countries) and all of the developed world. The average age in the world is currently estimated at 29.1 years, with some countries as low as 16.8 years (Malawi), and some as high as 44.7 years (Japan)

It is estimated that currently over 20% of South Africa’s population is younger than 10 years old, while in China the percentage is 9.6%, US 9.7%, Germany 8.5%, and Japan 8.5%.

Young People in South Africa have historically been at the epicentre of political and social change. During the mid 1970s and 1980s, they played a catalytic role as foot soldiers in the anti-apartheid struggles.

Religion and Culture
African traditional religion and the religion of the San people are in South Africa, but other religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, were brought to South Africa by people from Europe and Asia.

Buddhist teachings have been introduced into South Africa and there is a Buddhist temple in Bronkhorstspruit, Mpumalanga.

As per the 2001 census, there were almost 80 percent of Christians followed by Islam with some 1,5 percent, plus African Traditional Religion, Judaism and Hinduism.

According to the South African Constitution, everyone has the right to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion. Almost 80% of South Africa’s population follows the Christian faith.

The global youth image is everchanging and currently the youth market is at its most diverse and dynamic. This is of increasing importance especially in South Africa, being an growing nation and an understanding of this is crucial for consumers and marketers alike. The image of youth, being the way they view themselves and the way others view them, is widely influenced by brands. Youth consumption has seen a tremendous increase since Apartheid, through South Africa’s reintegration with global trends and the introduction of new brands. Many local and international brands available influence the image of South African Youth, these include Aca Joe, Hip Hop, Billabong, Loxion Kulcha, Nike, Guess, [Levi’s]] and others.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_South_Africa en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_South_Africa

Education
All South Africans have the right to a basic education, including adult basic education and further education. School life spans 13 years or grades, from grade 0, otherwise known as grade R or "reception year", through to grade 12 or "matric" – the year of matriculation. General Education and Training runs from grade 0 to grade 9.Under the South African Schools Act of 1996, education is compulsory for all South Africans from the age of seven (grade 1) to age 15, or the completion of grade 9.

Further Education and Training takes place from grades 10 to 12, and also includes career-oriented education and training offered in other Further Education and Training institutions – technical colleges, community colleges and private colleges. Diplomas and certificates are qualifications recognised at this level.Private schools and higher education institutions have a fair amount of autonomy, but are expected to fall in line with certain government non-negotiables – no child may be excluded from a school on grounds of his or her race or religion, for example.

Crime
In South Africa youth in being involved to crime because of peer pressure and poverty.The need to pay more attention to the crime that involve the young people is further supported by the crime reports which indicate that a higher number of juveniles and the youth have been involved in various crimes both in society and in learning institutions where unrests and riots are common.

Health
In South Africa, many health organizations have the youth of south africa at heart. They aim to promote youth and adolescent friendly services: access and utilization, to improve optimal health status of youth and adolescents in South Africa and build capacity of health care providers.

Media influence on Youth
Media plays a huge role in South African YOUTH. Teenagers are exposed to all sorts of media outlets, from television, movies and advertising to social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram. Media isn't inherently positive or negative; however, teens should have a healthy balance between exposure to media and other, intellectually and physically stimulating activities.

Image and Beauty standards: Negative
It's no secret that media has had an increasingly negative impact on the way teenage girls measure their personal image and beauty standards. The sizes of supermodels and actresses often influence teenage girls, who are actively seeking to find an identity to believe they have to be thin to exemplify beauty. Magazine advertisements encourage teenage girls to think their hair needs to be long or short, red, blonde or brunette, whatever the flavor of the month in order to be considered beautiful. In order to minimize the effect of these messages, Boise State University psychology professor, Mary Pritchard, writing for "The Huffington Post," praises parents who limit their teens' exposure to various media outlets. Teens should be taught to value their own definitions of beauty above all else and to accept the things that they can not change about themselves.

Social Skills development: Positive
Teens can learn to enhance social interactions with their peers through involvement in social media. Quite often, friendships on social media sites are merely offline extensions of existing, face-to-face relationships. Social media also allows teens to cultivate new friendships, which brings them access to wider networks and provides even greater learning and social opportunities. Other benefits for teens engaged in social media include increased social confidence, more social support and heightened media literacy. Social media diversifies teens' social skills, which will help them navigate through a technologically astute society.

Influence of alcohol
South Africa (SA) is a hard drinking country. It is reckoned that it consumes in excess of 5 billion litres of alcohol annually; this figure is likely to be higher still if sorghum beer is included, and equates to 9 - 10 litres of pure alcohol per person. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report released in 2011, this is among the highest per capita consumption rates in the world, and it is continuing to rise.

This shows the direct influence of alcohol on the South African youth. In South Africa the age restriction for alcohol is 18 years yet in townships there are shebeens that sell the alcohol children under 18 years. The streets of townships are run by cliques the most infamous being the Skhothane’s. These groups hold parties over weekends which being followed by the entire haus of popular students. Going to these parties shows your status hierarchy of being well known.

Music
The youth of South Africa listen to mostly Kwaito. This is because kwaito is an indigenous music genre which is vastly listened to by black South African youth. The most listened to by the youth radio station in south africa is YFM as identified by 500 000 of the listeners.