Dr Noma Mbeki Foundation targets pens down drinking

Alcohol abuse among learners remains a concern in the Eastern Cape, with Liquor Board figures showing that about 47% of learners have consumed alcohol.

Against the backdrop of the Enyobeni Tavern tragedy, the Dr Noma Mbeki Foundation has hosted its first annual Anti-Pens Down event for Grade 12 learners from around Mdantsane.

The initiative aims to offer an alternative to the traditional “pens down” celebrations, which are often associated with heavy underage drinking.

The foundation says its approach is informed by the communities most affected by alcohol-related incidents involving young people.

It says Mdantsane is the starting point for the programme, and it hopes the initiative will reach more learners.

Foundation president Dr Noma Mbeki says the decision to launch the campaign in Mdantsane was deliberate, pointing to patterns she and her team observed in lower-income communities.

Mbeki says, “We are very conscious to ensure that we go for the underprivileged, because we noticed without research that most of the mortalities and incidents that happened, happened predominantly in the LSM levels that are between LSM one to LSM three, which is more your township, your lower to middle income earners.

So what we have done is we started in the township of Mdantsane, and we’re going to take this programme further into the disenfranchised areas.

This is one of the first events out of many that we intend to do, not only here but throughout the country, because this is a pandemic amongst young people.

It’s not just affecting the kids of this region.” Govt, SGBs concerned about dangers of ‘pens down’ party The pupils who attended the launch say the value of the programme lies less in being told what not to do, and more in being given the tools to handle pressure at home and among friends.

“Such programmes give us information so that we do not end up being hobos, staying homeless under the bridges, because of being afraid to say or not being able to listen to a parent saying no to something.

The reason why is because they are running away from ‘no’ at home, so they choose substance abuse to deal with it.

Also peer pressure and stuff.

So such events are there to help us, to educate us.” “Because teenagers, they face many problems we could call them, we could name them, there’s etcetera and etcetera problems that they have.