Stay safe after completing matric exams
MOST schools are in the last leg of the year-end final examinations. Some schoolchildren are already sitting at home, having finished writing their examinations.
Tradition is that the end-of-schoolyear parties, dubbed as pens down, are being organised and will be taking place in the next few days or weeks.
Education authorities have described this annual pens down ritual by learners as unruly and reckless.
They have urged learners to refrain from attending or hosting such parties so that the country does not experience another Enyobeni tavern tragedy.
In June, 21 youngsters from Scenery Park in East London lost their lives following a night of partying at the tavern.
The deceased were from a local school. The toxicology report indicated they died from suffocation at the overcrowded tavern.
Past experience has proven that these parties lead to disastrous consequences due to a lack of adult or parental supervision. Overindulgence in alcohol and drug intake is a common feature at these parties.
It is during these sessions that young people become overly excited and end up indulging in drugs, alcohol and unsafe sex.
Authorities have called on parents and the community to discourage and denounce the pens down parties in the strongest terms possible.
At these parties, learners risk unplanned pregnancies and contracting sexually transmitted diseases as a result.
Learners party till the morning in the name of celebrating the end of exams. What they need to know is that the aim of writing exams is not to finish but to pass.
Celebrating the end of exams does not help in any way if the results are not yet known.
Furthermore, parents and guardians are requested to monitor their children’s movements and conduct and strongly discourage them from engaging in such activities.
Finishing exams is not victory. The real triumph is doing well in those exams. May the seed of responsibility be planted in the minds of our future leaders so that they grow up to contribute effectively to the South Africa we wish to see.
We need to create the tomorrow we want, today.