Archive for the ‘Social’ Category

As parents we need to protect our children ….

A not-so-new form of bullying has reared its head again recently. An article in the Mercury in August cited three British cases where teenage victims had eventually resorted to suicide to escape the relentless attacks. The aggressors were so ruthless that a Facebook page set up in memory of one victim still had the bullies post insulting comments on it. What I’m talking about is Cyber bullying. As communication between people of all ages has moved more into computer media, bullying of this nature can be affected right into your home or onto a cell phone. This can also make it impossible to escape as the victim doesn’t even have to be at the same school or even town as the aggressors. A cruel nature of the act is the existence of “joiner inners”. Other kids, who have no relation to the situation, simply start adding their two cents worth and therefore compounding the situation. Read the rest of this entry »

Often when a woman has had an abortion, the first feeling is relief. If she didn’t want anyone to know about the pregnancy, the abortion has removed all potential problems. But more and more we see women experiencing other, more negative feelings about their abortion. It may only be months or even years later that these feelings and symptoms start surfacing. These feelings and symptoms can affect her life and future relationships and often she is not aware that they are connected to the abortion.
Many women go through denial and block out the abortion experience by pretending it never happened. Although this is often the body’s way of protecting itself in coping with the feelings involved, the reality is that the abortion experience has not gone away and those scars are buried deep down. Post-abortion syndrome is the name given when a woman who is post-abortive starts to experience negative and destructive feelings. Read the rest of this entry »

What Examples are we setting for our youth?

Our youth – particularly our young men – are living perilously close to the edge when it comes to crime.

Research shows that the overwhelming majority of violent and property crime in South Africa is committed by young lads in their teens and early twenties. This group is also disproportionately vulnerable to becoming victims of crime by virtue of their somewhat riskier, testosterone-led lifestyles.
“But our junior is a good boy” we bluster nervously “and good boys don’t get caught up in crime!” If only this was true.
Those dearest to us aside, the fact that so much crime involves our young men gives us a big clue as to where our preventative efforts should be focused. Read the rest of this entry »

What is the truth about the so called new drugs Whoonga?

Nothing spreads faster than misinformation. I tend to blame e-mail. We read and forward every piece of trash that comes in and worst of all, we believe it to the point of actually arguing for the statements made. So recently I was  asked to research and find out facts about a topical issue. No e-mails involved. I was approached about the “new” drug Whoonga.

First off, there’s actually nothing “new” about Whoonga. Its base substances have been around a long time. Most often, the base is either Dagga (Tetrahydracannibol) or Heroin. Both have central nervous system depressant affects. Heroin derives from Opium, a strong sedative. Most often, when a Heroin user dies, it is through overdose which shuts everything down permanently. Read the rest of this entry »

Children from dysfunctional homes are everywhere, crying out for someone to take the time to guide them ……

You would be forgiven if one of the many public holidays – Family Day – passed you by totally unnoticed.
On the surface of it, Family Day is what one might call a “soft” public holiday – kind of like the Day of Goodwill. It’s just sommer, nice. It’s not loaded with history or symbolism like Human Rights Day or Women’s Day. There aren’t any rallies or political gatherings focused on the issue of family. It’s just, Family Day – quite naff really. No wonder you didn’t notice it.

And whilst we have reams of important documents on Human Rights and Women’s Rights and Freedom, books on family are relegated to the back of the bookstore; an area most commonly frequented by teenagers looking to learn a thing or two from the many sex guides on offer. Either that, or family is seen to be religious territory; more for priests to deal with than politicians. Read the rest of this entry »

(Left to Right) SPCA manager Barbara Patrick with SAPF officer W/O Ryan Charlton with dog Ully, Lindsay Gray, marketing manager Janine Kyle and Metro Police officer Insp. Jacques Fourie with his dog Kongo

The Kloof and Highway SPCA’s Garden of Remembrance will get a makeover in months to come. The below right proposed visual image gives one an idea of the beautifully landscaped area when completed.
The garden was started a few years ago by Jacques Fourie of the Metro Police Dog Unit who was instrumental in the building of the Metro Wall. A storyboard was made, highlighting the story of the two original Metro Police dogs – Chilli and Tazz  – was the catalyst for the building of the wall. The story pays tribute to the dogs they’ve lost in service.  Recently, Janine Kyle contacted various role players with a view to restoring and revitalising the Garden of Remembrance to honour past heroes, faithful friends and loved pets.
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Spend some quality family time.

Although very few responsible parents would allow their children to watch unsuitable television programmes, there are many studies to show that it is not only the content of what children see on TV can be harmful to them, but also the medium itself, either directly (as overexposure can have long-term consequences on brain development, etc.) or indirectly (by displacing other experiences to critical to their development).  Indeed, research published in reputable medical and scientific journals shows a direct association between exposure to visual electronic media and emotional, behavioural, attentional, learning and sleep disorders as well as related health risks.

TELEVISION AN AD/HD:  Notwithstanding the contribution of genetic factors to AD/HD, It has been found that early exposure to television (before two years) is directly correlated with AD/HD.  Although it seems that TV reared children may be more inattentive and impulsive due to being deprived opportunities to develop their listening skills in relatively unstimulating turn-taking conversation, there is growing evidence that exposure to TV in young children can result in frontal lobe “dysfunction” in the developing brain.  Indeed, it has been shown that TV viewing alters brainwaves in ways similar to hypnosis – within only 30 seconds of turning on the TV, the adult brain can switch to mainly alpha waves indicating an unfocussed attentional state while the left hemisphere, which processes information analytically, logically and critically tunes out!  Brain imaging studies also suggest that playing video games may induce the brain to release dopemine – the neurotransmitter associated with AD/HD – which may explain the extraordinary ability of children who cannot concentrate at school to focus on a TV screen for hours on end. Read the rest of this entry »

About the author…

Stephen Clark was born and bred in Durban. He has been policing in the Durban area for the past six years carrying out both Crime Prevention and Reaction duties. He is currently on the Durban South Police team for combat rifle shooting.

Stephen has always enjoyed drawing and this hobby dates right back to his early school days where he amused many with his humorous caricatures of teachers. This ability to see the lighter side of life has helped him cope with the many stressful situations he has found himself in particularly as a policeman.

This cartoon is one of many that he has had published in a book aptly named “Greycop”.

Gorilla with an ingrown toenail… …by Stephen Clark

My laptop died.
There was no moment of silence, rather a screaming rage that caused the rest of the station to wonder what gorilla with an ingrown toenail had been let loose.

I struggled for months trying to revive the thing, but eventually, even some keys stopped working so I bgan typng a bt lik ths. Painful. Being Communications Officer and really needing a computer to work on didn’t help either. Unfortunately the old desktop computer the CPF had donated several years back was in a similar state. The monitor being so fuzzy I got a headache after five minutes work.

Enter Roger Day of the Westville Community Policing Forum. Roger is a very quiet guy so was a bit disturbed at my daily ranting and raving about being incapable of doing any level of quality work. He scouted around and got me in touch with a very kind man, Iain Emerson, at Network Configurations in Westville.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Iain promised to find and sponsor me a laptop and, sure enough, I fetched it this week Monday. I am truly indebted and in sincere thanks to Roger and especially Iain for their kindness and dedication to the SAPS and willingness to help wherever they could.

I’m back! No rage, no ingrown toenails and even most of the silver fur has gone. It was a small reminder that there are community members and businesses out there who are ready to embrace the ideals of public support and freely contribute to the efficiency of the Police.

Is creating peace a viable option? 

“What a load of claptrap!” gurgled my Uncle Reggie whilst he slurped his Hansa and pointed threateningly at me with a stick of droe wors.

The occasion was Auntie Liz’s birthday party, but things had gone pear shaped pretty much from the word go.

It all began when Reggie overheard a conversation between me and an old cousin of ours named Simon (who oddly enough comes from Simonstown.)

As I do, I was explaining to Simon that crime – especially of the violent type – is often perpetrated by people who themselves have been abused or maltreated in some way. I suggested that if we are to create a peaceful South Africa, we will need to reach out to one another in small ways that help to heal the scars of the past.

Reggie’s ears were burning – he could barely contain himself.

Spurred on by Simon’s obvious approval, I shifted gear and went for broke; “Even dignifying people in simple ways like saying hello has a powerful effect on people’s psyche.”

Reggie could contain himself no longer: “Are you seriously asking me to believe that crime can be solved by being nice to one another? Is that your big solution to nearly 17000 murders every year? We must just somma make like Lionel Ritchie and say hello? What bunk!”

I must admit that I could see his point. Like so many South Africans, Reggie and my Auntie Liz have been victims of violent crime. Our first reaction to dreadful criminal incidents is usually not to fight fire with peace. We still believe that the only way to fight fire is with more fire.

Of course this is, in part, correct. When crimes are committed the perpetrators must be caught and face the full force of the law.

But this wasn’t really what Simon and I were talking about. Before Reggie got in on the act, I was explaining that along with a strategy to ‘fight crime’, we also need a parallel strategy of ‘creating peace’. If all we do is create more capacity to handle more crime i.e. more police, more guns and more courts, we will never stamp out crime as the roots of the problem will remain. We will always be solving crime cases; always slamming the stable door after the horse has bolted.
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