Success – at what price?

9

The primary challenge remains at the level of the family. The home is where everything begins in terms of the socialisation of the child who will become the man or woman in society. The family has to instill positive values that can allow the individual to withstand the pressures to cheat.

Our teachers have to assist the family in promoting the fact that excellence is an achievable objective and that society has a responsibility to put in place the legitimate mechanisms to facilitate that striving after excellence.  At the same time, our recognition must be to all those who make the effort and not simply to those who have won. It is never enough to say to those who have been unsuccessful that the act of participating is adequate. They must be recognised for their effort. They must also be made to understand the fundamentals involved in the phrase, ‘horses for courses’. In today’s world there are many options and we must do our best to facilitate access to those options to ensure that we do get our youths into fields of endeavour to which they are best suited.

We must be able to provide viable alternatives instead of merely shouting at the top of our voices, ‘Say no to drugs!’