Resources - Get Mad/Glad

An article by City Press, “Kicking around is a way to escape poverty,” (28/03/2010, p.40) was selected as Glad of the week for accessing girl children and portraying them in a positive light that promoted children, specifically girls, in sports.

Women’s sports and sportswomen the world over, with a few exceptions, have fewer resources and garner far less media coverage than their male counterparts. In common with the virtual absence of women sportspersons in sports pages, girls playing sports are also absent. 

This article; however, did cover girls playing football. The article revolved around Lwazi Public Primary School and its pupils in Gugulethu, Cape Town. The school was chosen as the location to portray the rugby coaching clinics where the 1995 Springboks team conducted coaching sessions - at Nelson Mandela’s request - in the Clint Eastwood movie, Invictus, shot in South Africa.

The children involved in the movie spoke of their experiences: “It was very exciting to be in a movie and to meet someone as famous as Clint Eastwood. They treated us well and gave us lots of nice food. I wish we could see the movie,” said one of them, 11-year-old Siyabulela Mciteka.

Accessing girl children and portraying them involved in active pursuits should be commended as it promotes their opinions and gives them a sense of pride when they see and read about themselves in the media. “By providing children with opportunities to speak for themselves – about their hopes and fears, their achievements, and the impact of adult behaviour on their lives – media professionals can remind the public of children’s rights.” [1]

Information about the socio-economic background of the pupils of the school was provided. This gave depth to the article and highlighted the “poor learning environment” that is a feature of many schools in South Africa and their challenges it represents to the children.

The article showed; however, that such conditions do not necessarily hold pupils back. “Sport is very powerful. It is a way for the kids to escape poverty,” maths teacher and coach, Xolile Madikane was quoted as saying,

Despite its challenges - infrastructure being one of them - the school was portrayed as a “shining beacon” in sport. Team captain of the girls’ first soccer team – which has twice won the national finals – Lerato Mhlinza, was quoted as saying, “I started playing very young and I am passionate about soccer. Our team is good because we are dedicated and we practise all the time.”

A pretty picture of the child was taken, holding one of the team’s trophies. This picture was accompanied by two other pictures in the article with players from the school’s girls’ teams practising and the last one with Coach Madikane and named members of the Under-11 football team. This was indicative of the interest in the pupils of the schools.

Picturing and accessing girls who played soccer also steered away from the stereotype that it is only boys who can play soccer.

Media Monitoring Africa commends City Press for giving children a voice and taking an interest in their achievements and activities. We look forward to similarly excellent coverage of children in the future.

- Ayabulela Poro.

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Footnotes:
[1] “All sides of the Story” A journalist’s handbook on reporting on children by UNICEF and Media Monitoring Project, available at:
http://www.mediamonitoringafrica.org/images/uploads/allsidesofthestory.pdf