THERE’S nothing quite like the euphoria of reaching the end of 12 years of schooling… that’s assuming it only took the minimum 12 years.
(I have a friend who says, ‘some of the best years of my life were spent in standard seven’.)
School is over, class is out, it’s ‘pens down’ time and it feels like Liberation Day at the end of a world war.
Of course, it is pointless trying to tell matrics they will in years to come long for those days in the school ‘prison’.
No more restrictive school uniforms; hair and make-up any way you choose; earrings, nose rings, whatever – free to choose what to wear, what to do, where to go.
Armed with a matric pass, ahead lies a job (a salary!) if you are lucky, and tertiary education if you are both lucky and worked hard.
There is, however, that short interlude between the last exam and the start of a new phase of life.
It’s just a few weeks, but it is a period filled with potential for enormous sadness.
Alas, the euphoria of freedom so often is accompanied by recklessness, poor choices and extreme vulnerability.
Over the years, I and my colleagues have written far, far too many articles on the tragic loss of life of newly graduated matrics.
Car accidents, drownings, brawls…speeding, stabbings, fights over girls, bravado…so many tears and recriminations in the aftermath.
After-parties are notorious in this regard and often, the common denominator has been alcohol or drugs.
Too many young people have stood sobbing around a smashed car or a pool of blood that flowed from a close school friend’s body.
It does sound melodramatic and a bit macabre, given that the festive season is upon us, but it is the sad reality.
It is said old people have the right to give advice to the young; and the young equally have the right to ignore that advice…but I am going to give it anyway:
My young friends – have fun, enjoy life, relish in your newfound freedom, but don’t become part of a headline story this summer.
Be sober, be sensible, be responsible, be blessed. And encourage your friends to do the same.
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