Social and Environmental Responsibilities LIFE ORIENTATION GRADE 12

Social and Environmental Responsibilities LIFE ORIENTATION GRADE 12 Term 2: Week 5 - 7 Compiled by: Siza Molwana (JHB South)

Term 2 Week 5: Social and Environmental Responsibilities of various levels of government : - laws, Program mes: - regulations, -Educational - rules programmes Community communit - responsibility to y services Intervention provide programmes environments - Impact and services that studies promote safe and healthy living

Social and Environmental Responsibilities In this lesson you will: Learn about responsibilities of various levels of government Be made aware about social and environmental issues

Responsibilities of various levels of government CONCEPT EXPLANATION laws Statutes / Acts ; sets of rules regulations The details necessary to implement laws rules Procedures that have to be followed / ways of doing things

Responsibilities of various levels of government Laws, regulations and rules • Parliament make laws for the whole country. • Provincial governments make rules for the provinces. • Municipalities make by-laws for their municipal areas. • A law is also called an Act and is general in nature. • Acts provide the opportunity for ministers, provinces and municipalities to make regulations. • Rules are similar to regulations.

Responsibilities of Parliament to ensure healthy environments • Section 24 of the Bill of Rights deals with the environment. • It states that everyone has a right to: – An environment that is not harmful to their well-being – Environments that are protected for the benefit of present and future generations. – An environment that is free of pollution – An environment where there is conservation of the planet – An environment with secure ecologically sustainable development

Responsibilities of Provinces to ensure healthy environments • All provincial legislature correspond with that of national. • This means that provinces can not contradict (conflict with) national laws.

Responsibilities of Municipalities to ensure healthy environments • Local Government Acts are available that ensure that municipalities are well run and that there is good service delivery. • The Municipal Structures Act also provides guidance on how municipalities must conserve the environment.

Responsibilities of various levels of government (continued) Responsibilities of various levels of government • The Constitution says that everyone has the right to a safe and healthy environment. • It is the responsibility of every person in every community to look after the environment and to use resources responsibly. • It is also the responsibility of various levels of government to ensure that environments and services are safe and healthy.

What social and environmental issues face the world today? There are many serious issues affecting the world today. Many are linked to extreme poverty and basic human rights. In 1990, the UN set specific ‘Millennium Development Goals’ which they hope to achieve by the 2015. Their eight goals are to: *Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger *Achieve universal primary education *Promote gender equality and empower women *Reduce child mortality *Improve maternal health *Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases *Ensure environmental responsibility *Develop a global partnership for development

Millennium Goals

What social and environmental issues face South Africa today? Many issues facing South Africa are as a result of the poverty and inequality created by apartheid. Since 1994 we have made some progress in dealing with some of these issues and in 2003, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) identified 5 key obstacles to sustainable development (development which can carry us into the future) in South Africa: Ø Poverty and inequality Ø A lack of quality services for all Ø Environmental degradation (damaging the environment) Ø Unemployment Ø Low employment growth The UN has stressed that the South African government alone is unable to achieve this and will require the help of civil society (NGO’s and people).

What social and environmental issues face your community? • Many of the issues facing the world and South Africa are also present in your own community. • Although they may not be as broad, they also have a local impact, such as: *The number of AIDS orphans *A shortage of safe after-school care for children *Health hazards such as polluted rivers and streams *Alien vegetation (fire hazard) *Violence against children *The abuse and neglect of animals *Homeless people living on the streets

Educational and intervention programmes : Impact studies There a variety of programmes that have an impact on safe and healthy living. The programmes may be organised by NGOs, organisations, businesses, schools, community centres, religious institutions, municipalities and the Department of Health.

Educational and intervention programmes : • Aim to teach people and make them aware about issues that concern them. • For example : Community Health Intervention Programmes (CHIPs), sports intervention programmes, NICRO : Safety Ambassadors, Recycling Day and Youth Substance Abuse and Awareness Programmes.

Educational and intervention programmes : CONCEPT EXPLANATION Impact studies Measure and monitor something to see if a particular action would / is having an effect. Impact studies are also known as audits / assessments. Impact studies

Term 2 Week 6: Personal Mission Statement Identify your: *Personal views *Values Belief system *Religion *Ideologies *Lifestyle (physical and emotional wellbeing) *Environmental responsibility *Goals for studies *Career choices

Personal Mission Statement What is a mission statement? • It is a description of our values, dreams and goals; and forces you to be completely honest with yourself; it enables you to identify your skills, values and dreams. • By knowing more about your sense of calling and purpose in life, you can begin to make sense of issues about meaning, relationships, death, life and freedom. • One should always: Ø Be emotionally honest with oneself Ø Respect and value oneself Ø Take responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions

Formulating a personal mission statement for life • It is a description about you and of our values, dreams, attitudes and goals. • You set goals for yourself. The purpose is to get you to explore and identify your own values, dreams and goals. • They get you to identify your skills, your values and your dreams. • It tells what is important to you and how you plan to achieve it.

Personal views • Your personal views are your opinions and what you consider to be important. For example, you may view Mathematics as an important subject because you want to study to be an accountant after school. Your personal views many be influenced by your goals for your future, your religion, culture, and values.

Values • It is the things that you choose and that are important to you in your life. It is not the things your parents or friends decide to be important. You must choose them out of your own free will. It is the things you are proud of and are happy to tell the world about. • Your values have been influenced by everything that you have had contact with in your life: your parents, your friends, your life experiences, your access to media and your conscience. For you to become a mature adult, you need to develop your own value system. It is the code by which you live your life.

Belief system • Your belief system is the way you try to understand the world and your place in it. It is also your set of beliefs about what is right and wrong, true and false. • Your belief system may be based on the teachings of a formal religion or may be part of your cultural belief system

Religion • Your religion is what you believe and who or what you worship. Religions usually have moral codes, rituals and ways of behaving towards others. Religion is based on faith and a belief in • Ideologies are an organised set of beliefs, values and ideas. They are the way you believe you should live in the world and the way society should operate. Political ideologies include democracy, communism, nationalism, and fascism.

Lifestyle • Your lifestyle is how you live your life on a daily basis. For example, you may exercise regularly, eat healthy food, practise safe sex, and not drink alcohol so that you care for you physical well-being and health.

Environmental responsibility • If you take your responsibility towards the environment seriously, you know you need to treat nature with respect. • You do not do anything that is harmful to the environment, such as litter or chop down trees, without planting new trees. • You recycle and get involved in environmental clean-up campaigns.

Goals for studies and career choices • Your goals for studies and career choices are your plans for the future, the steps you need to take to achieve your later goals in life. • For example, your goal may be to have a good job and to own your own house in ten years’ time. .

Formulating Personal Mission Statement 1. PERSONAL VIEWS : Who are you? At each stage of life there are different emotional and social tasks that we learn. By the time you have reached adolescence you will have learned how to do the following: Ø Ø Ø Trust yourself and others Have a sense of independence Take an initiative Compete Compare yourself to others The main task during adolescence is to figure out who you are; this involves a number of things: Ø Identifying your strengths, weaknesses and values Ø Gaining clarity about what belief system you may have chosen Ø Understanding how you relate to the higher world

Formulating Personal Mission Statement VALUES : 2. What do you value? Your values have been influenced by everything that you have had contact with in your life, such as your parents, friends, life experience, media, conscience, etc. 3. What makes something a value? Ø It must be freely chosen Ø You must prize it or cherish it Ø You must act on it

Formulating Personal Mission Statement Decision Making 4. Why is decision-making so important? Freedom means being able to make choices and then to accept responsibility and accountability of the consequences. Decision-making takes time and involves the following process:

Term 2 Week 7: Impact of Vison Learn about interacting • Impact of your Mission Statement on your Community • How to respect the rights of others who hold different beliefs and values

Impact of Vision Impact of your Mission Statement on your Community How does your vision affect your community and society? Many influential people have had visions that have changed the world in some way or have greatly influenced others. They include people in many different areas of life: (examples follow)

People such as: Ø Former president Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, Ø Mohandas ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi Øand Martin Luther King Jr all had a vision of democracy and equality. Ø What do these people have in common: They each helped to change the political and social structure of their countries.

Impact of Vision • How can I respect the rights of others who hold different beliefs and values? • The more you understand yourself, the more you will be able to understand interact with others. • This is particularly important in intimate relationships and when dealing with people of different religious, cultural and social backgrounds.

ASSESSMENT Question 1 • Explain Two ways in which your personal mission statement may assist you to choose a job / career Possible answers could be: A mission statement will help you to: • Consider the things you value the most in a job ( ) so that you apply for a job that does not conflict with your values( ) • Identify your own talents and interest( ) that will help you consider the job that you would be most suited to. ( ) • Give you focus on the right course of action to take ( ) when seeking employment suitable to your lifestyle • Consider what is really important in life ( ) so that you are able to weigh your options in deciding where to apply for a job( ) Any Two relevant responses for TWO marks each ( ) 2 × 2 ( 4) Question 2 Discuss THREE ways in which the youth’s participation in campaigns could positively influence their personal values and sense of responsibility towards society Possible answers could be: Participation in a campaign could: • Increase awareness of one’s abilities and skills which could impact on one’s views on oneself and what one wants to pursue in life

Assessment ( continued) • • Encourages self-expression which assist them to clarify personal views and opinions Improve one’s social and emotional well-being which impacts on one’s lifestyle choices Help one to clarify what one wants to achieve which impacts on one’s life and career goals Make one aware of the needs of others which could change the focus from oneself to making a difference in the community or other people’s lives Develop compassion/empathy for others which impacts on one’s values/beliefs/morals Help one to establish how one should relate to others which impacts on the building and sustaining of healthy relationships Inspire one to start or permanently join in a similar campaign in an area of need which in turn could inspire others to become involved in similar activities (3 x 2) (6)

Assessment ( continued) • Question 3 Read the extract below and answer the questions that follow. Clean water has become such a scarce commodity in the informal settlement of Diepsloot that residents fight over it. The hardest hit by the crisis are mothers with newborn babies, who often have to strap their infants to their backs and head off to search for water. At OR Tambo Clinic, nurses were still going on with their duties and the clinic was full despite having no water. (Source: The Star, 19 April 2012) • Identify a self and safety issue in your community. Describe what the issue is, who is involved, what laws have been broken or rights affected and what is needed for the situation to be resolved.