INTERGENERATIONAL DIALOGUE INITIATES POSITIVE CONVERSATION BETWEEN PARENTS AND CHILDREN

By Sello Tang

More conversations are now expected to happen between parents, caregivers and minors on sensitive issues around sexual encounters and their social ills following a successful three-day intergenerational dialogue on the Mother and Daughter – Father and Son Programme facilitated by the Gender Mainstreaming Unit of the Department of Social Development.

The dialogue, held at the Lagoon Beach Hotel and Conferencing in Milnerton, Western Cape, is intended to focus on building and strengthening positive parent-child relationships and advocating the sharing of knowledge and information between parents and their children to better equip the children when they come across unwanted sexual encounters and other social ills.

It takes place in the context of increased incidents of sexual assaults and murder of children, which prompted the Department of Social Development to embark on a campaign to conduct dialogues to empower the children and their parents on how best children can protect themselves from these chronic gender-based abusive trends.

As a result of this dialogue between parents/caregivers and children, participants agreed on the need to set positive parent/child boundaries and mutual respect.

One of the poignant issues raised by parents/caregivers is the lack of access to housing opportunities, which they said enforced backyard dwelling. This unpalatable environment strips families of their dignity and disempowers them from instilling discipline in their children, especially when landlords interfere in family matters.  

Acting Deputy Director-General for Strategy and Organisational Transformation, Jacques Zuydam, presenting a lead tone on what the programme sought to achieve, said it intended to foster open communication between children and parents on issues such as sexual reproductive health, gender-based violence and substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, online violence and mental health.

“It is critical to have a safe space where parents and their children can have honest conversations about their kids’ lives to enable parents to provide positive guidance to their children to tackle difficult social and sexual activities hurdles,” said Zuydam.

About 60 parents/caregivers and children from the Atlantis area, which the Western Cape Provincial Department of Social Development has identified as a priority area for targeted interventions, attended the dialogue.

Western Cape is the fifth province to implement this programme, which was first piloted in the Eastern Cape and has been conducted in Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Gauteng to date.

The aim of the intergenerational dialogue programme is to create mutual understanding between different generations in families by creating a safe space through which parents/caregivers and children can listen, reflect, and share their thoughts and ideas in a non-judgmental manner.

All selected participants are social grants beneficiaries currently receiving a variety of social work interventions aimed at addressing common challenges facing families, such as exposure to family and gang violence, divorce, delinquency, child abuse and neglect, substance use disorders, school dropout, grief and poor parent-child relations, amongst others.

The intergenerational dialogue programmes include role-playing and various group activities to break communication barriers between parents/caregivers and their children. Because the dialogue often involves emotionally challenging conversations for both parents/caregivers, social workers are deployed to provide psychosocial care and support when needed.

Participants were emotionally stirred by a presentation by Dr Shanaaz Hoosain from the University of Cape Town, who specialises in working with marginalised families and communities and focused on how both generations can work together to confront and break the intergenerational cycle of trauma in families.  

Participants agreed to set positive parent/child boundaries and mutual respect.

The intergenerational dialogue programme coincides with the Africa Children’s Summit, which is scheduled for 4-7 April 2025 at St John’s College, Johannesburg.

The main objectives of the summit are to promote child-centred dialogue and advocacy; empower children as agents of change; ensure inclusive and equitable participation; provide evidence-based policy recommendations; strengthen collaboration across sectors and regions in the continent; review and advance progress; and raise awareness and mobilise for national and regional action on matters affecting children, including those discussed at the intergenerational dialogue programme.

The dialogue also serves as a precursor to the upcoming Child Protection Week, which is usually held annually at the end of May.

The Western Cape MEC for Social Development, Jaco Londt, also attended the event.