Chapter 10: Development of multi-disciplinary model for OVC
5.3 CHALLENGES AND RISKS FACED BY OVC
5.3.2 Challenges at home
South Africa has seen worst cases of indiscipline, where children become so violent that they attack and kill their own teachers and peers. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, there were cases that shocked the whole country, of learners killing their own teachers and fellow learners (Wolhuter, 2020). Some of these children bully their fellow learners. This leaves other children so traumatised that those who cannot go for a counselling process, are left with deep and permanent emotional scars. The worst-case scenario is when the traumatised children commit suicide or drop out of school.
children were more resilient and coped well with their academic work. There are children who will stay at school until late hours to use the school’s lights and the space to study, as there may be no space or electricity at home.
5.3.2.2 Food insecurity
Food security is a serious challenge facing OVC. Though there are positive contributions brought through the intervention of the social security assistance, most families survive on a meagre grant, which may not be sufficient (Mohale, 2019). Children may lack even the most basic necessities of life. The money is not enough to pay for food, clothes and school expenses. Research evidence has shown that because of the poor conditions, OVC are subjected to a higher risk of malnourishment and stunted growth because of insufficient food intake (Magero, 2012; Mwoma & Pillay, 2015; Mutiso & Mutie, 2018).
Some resort to stealing to meet their personal needs (Mutiso & Mutie, 2018). Households with less food security are at higher risk of suffering from anxiety and depression (Magero, 2012).
5.3.2.3 Risk of sexual exploitation
Most OVC grow up in households that are overcrowded and they are at high risk of being abandoned, neglected and forced to fend for themselves (Mutiso & Mutie, 2018). In some cases, one may find several generations staying together in one household. This puts the young OVC at risk of sexual exploitation by family members or people they know, or maltreatment and various forms of abuse as indicated already (Ncanywa, 2015). In school, they are likely to become involved in transactional sex with their own teachers (Mampane, 2018; Ncanywa, 2015). In most cases, children do not report such incidences, which results in them suffering in silence (Ncanywa, 2015)). There are some cases, where the perpetrator of abuse is a breadwinner in the family; if he is reported, then the family will be subjected to hunger, or he will decide to stop providing them with food.
5.3.2.4 Teenage parenthood
Studies have shown that OVC face a harsh reality of becoming parents while still teenagers (Garwood, Gerassi, Jonson-Reid, Plax, & Drake, 2015). This is caused by the social conditions that these children are subjected to in their immediate environment.
OVC tend to face neglect and lack proper parental care, which puts them at risk of being sexually exploited (Chung, 2018). The sexual exploitation leads them to become mothers, while still young, naïve and inexperienced.
5.3.2.5 Drug and alcohol abuse
Children growing up without proper parental support and who are neglected are likely to abuse drugs and alcohol (Khosa, 2018; Rikhotso, 2014). Evidence has shown that most of the children who spend time in shebeens are from families that are troubled, overcrowded and dysfunctional (Khosa, 2018; Nkosi et al., 2019; Rikhotso, 2014). To a child who has psychosocial issues, the abuse of drugs and alcohol offers to them a temporary escape from the pain they are experiencing.
5.3.2.6 Lack of positive role models
Children need people to look up to someone, a role model, for positive inspiration and a person who will groom them to become better adults (Fayyaz, 2018). Positive role models are crucial in the child’s development, as they show young people how to live with integrity, optimism, hope, determination and compassion (Fayyaz, 2018). In an environment where they have no-one to look up to and aspire to be like them, they grow up with a void and lack some skills or capacities to make them better future citizens, especially those who are growing up in child-headed homes.
5.3.2.7 Caring for siblings and sick parents
Literature indicates that OVC are in many cases forced to take on adult roles long before they should have to (Maila & Mabasa, 2021; Pillay, 2016). In cases where a parent or
caregiver is working away from home, the oldest child must carry the heavy responsibility of caring for smaller brothers and sisters or sometimes also frail grandparents (Lathale &
Pillay, 2013). This becomes a heavy burden on the child, who also has academic demands to meet.
5.3.2.8 Lack of care and affection
Children need care and affection, especially in their crucial development years. In Maslow’s pyramid of hierarchy of needs (Macleod, 2020), the need for care and affection comes at the third level. This shows that for a child to be a fully functioning psychological and emotional being, they must have people who care for them and are affectionate towards them. Studies have shown that OVC normally experience neglect, abandonment or abuse (Hlalele, 2015; Saraswat & Unisa, 2017; Tsheko, 2007).
The situation may deprive them of the care and affection, which they need in order to develop fully. The lack of care and affection creates attachment issues later in their lives, as already discussed. However, not all OVC suffer from a lack of care and affection. In some cases, though, there may be parents or caregivers caring for them and showing them affection, but they lack the resources to be able to provide everything that is needed.