Children have a Right to Play and to Learn

: Two mothers

: Welcome to today’s program. As we continue our series on youth and children, we are going to hear a conversation between two mothers about how important it is for children to enjoy their childhood and go to school.

SOUND EFFECTS (A village atmosphere: the occasional sounds of dogs barking, chickens clucking, voices calling, music from a radio).

: Hello, Gugu. I’m glad you are coming to visit me for a change.

: Hello, Zandi. What are you doing down there on the mat?

: I’m busy mending some clothes for my boy.

: It’s so cool here under the tree. You are lucky to have such beautiful trees.

: Come and sit here. There’s space on the mat. Have you seen Zanele’s two girls lately?

: No, why?

: They work so hard every day. They carry water. They look after the chickens. They hoe the fields. And they carried those stones to make the wall around their house.

: That’s a lot of work! Those girls are so small!

: Those girls were born just before my boy. They are eleven years old.

: They can’t be eleven years old! They look much too small for their age.

: I know. Zanele won’t send them to school. She says they will get into trouble. She says at home they are learning many things from her.

: But children must have time to learn and to play.

: How can Zanele’s children grow properly if they don’t have time to play and rest? I think this is why Zanele’s children are so small. Their bodies have worked too hard. Now they look very thin.

: Yes, I have read about this at the health clinic. Their bones have not had time to grow properly because of the hard work they do. Perhaps they also do not eat enough good food.

: When they are grown up, their bodies will struggle to bear children.

: But Zandi, what can we do? You know my children love school, but I also get them to help me at home. They collect wood for me and they feed the chickens.

: I know, I’ve seen them — all children help with chores.

: You see everything, Zandi!

: Well, my eyes are open and what I see Zanele doing is not right. I feel very sad when I see these young children working so hard.

: This situation cannot be right. Maybe we should speak to Zanele.

: She’s stubborn, that one! She won’t listen.

: We can speak in a gentle way. We can remind her that children need time to enjoy their lives. They need time to play and go to school.

: Maybe we should only talk to her about schooling. She may get angry if we tell her we think her children are working too hard.

: We can start with the topic of school and stress how important it is for children to learn to read and write.

: Yes. We can say that girls and boys need to learn to read and write. Even if the girls get married and have a family, they still need to be able to read and write.

: We will have to choose our words carefully. She may not want to hear how we think children should be raised.

: We must do something.

: Perhaps she cannot do the work herself because she is not well.

: Whatever reason she has, we must go and speak to her.

: I have an idea. I will bake a cake and we can visit her together.

: She may be suspicious of us.

: No, she won’t. We can say we haven’t seen her for a while and this will be the reason for the visit.

: Okay. And before we go, we can plan some questions about her daughters in a way that doesn’t make her feel uncomfortable. What do you think?

: Hey, that’s a good idea. We’ll plan this visit so she really doesn’t think we planned it at all!

[Both women laugh.]

: Let’s go as soon as we can.

[Note: All village sounds end.]

: We have heard a very important discussion today. These mothers are worried about children who do not go to school. They are also concerned that children they know are working long hours and have no time to play and rest, as growing children should.

This does not mean that children cannot help their families with chores at home and on the farm. Children can play an important role in family life by looking after the chickens, washing dishes or tending vegetable gardens, but they also need time to attend to school work. When children don’t go to school, they miss out on the opportunity to learn how to read and write — skills that will improve their lives.

Do you know of young boys and girls who work instead of going to school? Remember what you have heard today. It is important that we care for our children and give them the opportunity to learn. They have the right to grow up as children. Until they are adults, boys and girls should not be allowed to work for long hours under difficult conditions.

– END –