Hi All
I’m sure most of you would have, at some time or another, heard someone say words to the effect of “I believe James(?)
was completely Hoovered last night”. I believe many youngsters these days want to have this said about them so that they
can earn that “Badge of Honour”.
In most Western societies, there are laid down laws making a criminal offence of things like Underage Sexual behaviour
and Underage Drinking. Most youngsters maintain that these rules have been established for purely physical reasons and
feel that, because their bodies have “matured”, they should simply ignore these regulations. The more important reasons
for these laws are, however, the emotional after-effects from these actions that young teenagers aren’t mentally ready for.
Students writing “A” Levels at most private schools were all released from day-to-day class attendance sometime last week
to give them ample, quality time at home to focus on their studies. Word on the street, however, is that many of these
youngsters are out there partying hard believing that the exams are still a long way off. Just last Wednesday afternoon there
were about a dozen such boys drinking in our local nature reserve – they had all driven there in their cars parking them
neatly outside ready to be driven home much later by immature kids with too much alcohol in their systems.
The tragic accident that took place late yesterday afternoon is, very sadly, a testament to such inappropriate behaviour.
So, So Sad and unnecessary.
So what do we, as the elders of this society, do to change this behaviour? Is it not our combined responsibility to try and
correct this or do we wait for draconian regulations to be introduced as has happened in many parts of the Diaspora?
Are school kids learning this from their peers at school or from watching how their parents behave at weekend barbeques?
I’m sure that teenagers all over the world are subject to major peer pressure to imbibe or participate in activities that most
adults would frown upon. We, as adults, have all been there before and know what happens far away from seeing parents.
The trick then, surely, is to bring them up in such a way that they know how to self-define their own limits – to know the
difference between a bit of naughty fun and foolish behaviour – everything in moderation
Let’s all work together as a community to improve this terrible scenario. Ciao Mike G.
