- Title
- Lost generation found: black youth at leisure
- Creator
- Moller, Valerie
- Date Issued
- 1991
- Date
- 1991
- Type
- Text
- Identifier
- vital:542
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011554
- Description
- South African society has been preoccupied with educating and finding jobs for its volatile youth generation. This Indicator SA special report looks beyond the institutional settings of school and work, focusing instead on how young people use their leisure time. The leisure prospects of black urban youth in their teens and early twenties has been researched by the Youth Centre Project (YCP) of the Centre for Social and Development Studies at the University of Natal. This seminal three year research and development project was carried out between 1988 and 1991 with sponsorship from Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Leisure might be considered a lightweight issue compared to other pressing problems in South African society. Not so, the YCP research shows that leisure has an important role to play in developing the new South Africa. Indeed, leisure is a critical issue for the youth which can either spell hope and opportunity or frustration and regression into crime and violence. Multiple phases of research were undertaken at the national and local level among rank and file black youth to address the many facets of leisure in township and peri-urban settings: • A nationwide time use survey recorded the leisure activities of young people in the 16-24 years age bracket and inquired into attitudes towards leisure and lifestyles. The study for which participants kept activity diaries, may be the first of its kind in South Africa. • Smaller scale investigations in the Durban Functional Region (DFR) looked into the leisure resources available and the human potential to make optimal use of leisure opportunities: • Youth groups and clubs operating in the DFR were the focus of a special youth self-help intervention. A regional youth group, the YCP Working Group, formed to serve the training and development needs of existing youth clubs in the DFR. • A special study was made of the particular leisure needs of young people living in four shack areas in the DFR. Several studies focused on venues for youth to meet, including the need for a regional youth centre in the Pinetown area. An inventory of DFR leisure facilities compiled for the project revealed the mismatch between existing leisure facilities and young people's views on ideal leisure venues. • A nationwide poll among all population groups confirmed the need for multi-purpose neighbourhood youth centres which offer educational as well as recreational leisure outlets. This special report addresses several leisure dilemmas facing South Africa today. Leisure is an elusive concept which is difficult to define. Our findings indicate that leisure means much more than recreation or play to young people. Educational and learning experiences are attractive but neglected leisure options which may have greater appeal than pure recreational pastimes. The evidence suggests that this is not 'a lost generation' but one starved for meaningful leisure outlets. Semi-leisure is the concept introduced to convey this more serious side to leisure activities. The inquiry concludes that marrying semi-leisure with pure leisure may go a long way towards meeting youth demands for constructive leisure at home, in youth groups, and in community centres and projects. The research findings reveal tensions between the leisure needs of young men and women, between youth in and out of jobs, between church and politicised youth, and between township and shackland youth. The dilemma is how to apply an equity solution to meet the spare time needs of youth from these diverse backgrounds. Airing these leisure dilemmas represents an important first step towards formulating a leisure policy for the new era. The case studies and commentaries in this special report demonstrate that rank and file black youth, in spite of the political violence, state repression during the emergency period, and social neglect, are amazingly adept at using their leisure creatively. Clearly, this potential calls for the formulation of an equally imaginative national leisure policy to enable South African youth to realise their dreams and aspirations.
- Description
- A joint publication: Youth Centre Project, Indicator Project South Africa. Youth Centre Project: Affiliate of the Centre for Social and Development Studies, University of Natal, Durban. Editor: Graham Howe. Production/ graphics: Rob Evans. Academic researcher: Robin Richards. Community researcher: Theresa Mthembu. Copy typing: Deborah Boertje.
- Format
- 66 pages
- Format
- Publisher
- Indicator Project South Africa, Centre for Social & Development Studies, University of Natal
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Moller, Valerie
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Moller, Valerie (Prof Emerita)
RU Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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SDG 10. Reduced Inequalities
SDG 03. Good Health and Well-Being
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