What is youth day to you South Africa?

Question

I received this email from a journalist friend of mine today:

Today is Youth Day - a public holiday to commemorate the Soweto

schoolkids' protest for better schooling.

Hector Pieterson, 13, was shot dead by the police, enshrined in a classic photograph.

He has since been sanctified, beatified etc.

The kids in the Cape also protested - it was quite a do.

On our company website we have a Voting Booth - you vote on the topic of the day.

Today iot is:

Is Youth Day

A - To honour the kids' fight for better education

B - Just another public holiday

C - What's Youth Day?

The response was:

A - 7%

B- 52%

C - 41%

Makes you wonder what it was really for, don't it.

What do you think??

South Africans answer this please.

Answer 1

I am one of the 52%.

Answer 2

It is a day for Africans to commemorate that day in 1976 when the ANC child soldiers took to the streets burning schools and looting property and the beginning of the Mandela's infamous "Necklace" i.e a waste of fecking time.

Answer 3

For a lot of South Africans it's a public holiday, as it is for me too.

For the ANC it's another chance to fill the youth of SA's heads with more propaganda. They need to do this once a year just to make sure the youth keep on hating white people for their past sins against black people.

Answer 4

It should be just a day to celebrate being young. It should not have political connotations. The day is not about Hector, but about the youth and their future. If you want to, then give Hector his own Hector day. Fathers day and mothers day are not linked to tragic episodes, so why link youth day to such episodes.

Answer 5

I actually have no cooking clue what Youth Day is about? Kids that got killed at Sharpville? My children and my friends children also don't care at all.....to them it is a long weekend, and they do not have to go to school. Sharpville means nothing to them, they do not even know who, what or where Sharpville is or who is Hector Pietersen. I am also confused, is he they boy carrying the dead boy in that photo or is he the dead boy? Is Youth day also for that Stompie boy Winnie Mandela and her soccer team allegedly killed? Ag the only holidays that have any meaning to me is Christmas Day and Easter as for Womens day and Heritage Day what a waste of time.......

Answer 6

I feel that SA has arrived, at least as far as the education system is concerned. For it just to be another public holiday must mean that Hector Peterson and all the others did not die in vain. Even though there are still a lot to be done and can be done, we are on the right track.

Answer 7

To me Youth Day is rather special, I missed out on a celebration with peers since I was home bound doing laundry, but I was there with them in spirit. We adorn school uniform in rememberence of the youth of then and thank them for having given us the opportunity to be and do what we want in this day and age. Also, it inspires me to want to want to better my life as I have better opportunities than they did. A friend who hosted the whole occasion said something about being able to launch a career he wouldnt have dreamt of back in that era and is thankful he has the opportunity now. To some it means jack schitt and its rather saddening to have youth party a storm and booze with no idea as to why that day is a holiday. Many youths were however involved in certain projects (as I saw on TV), this included kids from all races. One included youths across all races who wanted opportunities to be for all youth and to not be left out, which i totally agree with. its about high time projects like Umsobomvu recognise the will of any youth and not just black youths to do something with their lifes when starting businesses and such. I think we also need to find a way to voice our concerns about current government as youth as they are the biggest threat at the moment to our very livelihood. If anything, someone should organise a march (besides the millon man one) involving youths to hold talks with governemnt officilas and tell them just what is they think about them. It would be nice to have a few teens tell the Manto's of the world how kaak they are at their job. Like the oung school boy who once said: "why does a little kid have to wait months to get a liver whilst Manto drinks hers away and gets a liver within a month?"

Answer 8

The youth should decide where they want to go with their lives and what is important to them, not to their parents, government or people they did not even know or events they weren't even born and know little really about except what they heard from their parents

Answer 9

It is a day for the ANC Youth League - to get on their soap boxes and threaten to "take up arms" should Jacob Zuma's trial go ahead...

While Jacob stands there stewing in "quite diplomacy"

Great way to celebrate youth day - with more threats of violence and war - PLEASE applaud the future leaders of our country for embracing the true meaning of YOUTH DAY!!!