Soul Buddyz Alcohol-Free Schools Initiative

Soul City's PhuzaWize campaign (see Related Summary at bottom of page) sought to encourage responsible drinking through mass media (with the Soul City and Soul Buddyz television series), community radio, social mobilisation, and an advocacy campaign. The schools initiative used the existing infrastructure of the Soul Buddyz Clubs (see Related Summary at bottom of page) which have been established across South Africa. Through this initiative, "Learners participating in the Soul Buddyz clubs, as well as their families and peers in schools, learned more about how alcohol affects themselves, their families, and their communities. They learned about the health impacts, as well as how alcohol contributes to higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS and violence." It also sought to discourage schoolchildren from giving in to peer pressure to drink, or using alcohol as a way to cope with problems.

Soul Buddyz clubs across the country initiated activities intended to shift the norm away from accepting drunkenness as either a normal occurrence, or "cool." The clubs were guided by the Buddyz learn about alcohol, and take action Unit Guide, which provided clubs with information and suggested activities. The clubs each initiated their own project on how to create an alcohol free school, such as meeting with local police, holding marches, visiting local taverns to discuss not selling to children, writing and performing dramas and poetry about the potential harm of alcohol, and holding awareness sessions at the school and in the community.

The club activities were initiated alongside the fifth series of the Soul City television programme, Soul Buddyz, which focused on the presence of alcohol in schools. "The storyline depicts an exciting yet testing journey of the Soul Buddyz Club as they challenge the Amakoporoshe, a gang that supplies alcohol to the school, in an attempt to create an alcohol-free school without resorting to violence. To achieve this, the Buddyz avoid direct confrontational tactics and work as a team using multiple approaches such as social media, interviews, and community meetings to find ways to cut the supply of alcohol to the gang."

Alcohol abuse, children