Students campaigning against violence in their school. Photo: Courtesy of Montrose High School Media Club.
On the march for peace: Don Rowe reports from Zimbabwe
‘The momentum for peace has continued to build.’
In October last year, hundreds of pupils from primary and secondary schools in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, took to the streets in a peace march, demanding an end to violence in their schools and an end to the drug and alcohol abuse which fuels it. The march was a response to an appeal by the education authority to pupils, teachers, parents and NGOs to address the crisis facing this generation of Zimbabwean young people. The future for so many of them is truly bleak. Job opportunities are very poor, there is a ‘parenting deficit’ for many children whose parents have had to leave Zimbabwe to seek work in neighbouring countries. Many children lack firm boundaries and get involved with gangs or negative peer groups in the absence of more positive ones. Drug and alcohol abuse is rife, which fuels violent behaviour not only in communities but within schools.
