However, the day is so much more and it is an integral part of South Africa’s history.
The demonstrations historically had over 20 000 participants.
The pupils protested against the apartheid government after Afrikaans was introduced as the medium of teaching in local schools.
The 38th Youth Day marking 1976 Soweto uprising, is commemorated in Soweto, South Sudan, June 16, 2014. Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images.Source: Getty Images
The 1974 Afrikaans Medium Decree, however, forced schools to use Afrikaans and English in equal measures.
Indigenous languages were still the medium of teaching for religious instruction, music and physical culture.
Afrikaans learners on the other hand could take most classes in their home language.
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Desmond Tutu said Afrikaans was “the language of the oppressor.”
The committee promised good behaviour and got the teachers' backing.
However, they soon found out the apartheid police barricaded the route the learners planned to use.
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The action committee leader asked the young protestors to remain calm and not agitate the authorities.
Over a thousand people were injured and emergency clinics were swamped.
The apartheid government wanted records of the injured protestors so that they could be prosecuted later.
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Helicopters also patrolled from the sky.
The image shows a teen, Mbuyisa Makhubo, carrying the body of 12-year-old Hector Pieterson.
Makhubo was accompanied by Hector’s heartbroken sister, Antoinette Peterson.
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Social media users called Mashinini a born leader.
One of the most common problems amongst young people today is unemployment, even with a degree.
Briefly Newspreviously reported a young woman, @KSekgetle, called onPresident Cyril Ramaphosa not to speakon 16 June.
Barack Obama visits Hector Pieterson Museum in Soweto, Johannesburg, guided by Pieterson’s sister Antoinette Sithole. Photo: GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP via Getty Images.Source: Getty Images
She said:
@KSekgetle is not alone, many young people echoed her sentiment online.
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