In few days time, students across the country will round up their senior secondary school after their West Africa Examination Council, WAEC exam.
It is an exciting time for students who see the period as freedom time. The period when they will stop waking up very early to prepare to go to school. The period when they will stop academic works and probably stop cracking their brains to write exams.
Some also believe it is the period when they are matured and independent from their parents controlling them hence they want to indulge in all sorts of things probably learn from their peers.
Precisely two years ago, when our correspondent visited Nyanya, a suburb in Abuja, to investigate a story, she came across some students discussing in units and when she asked, she was told that a girl was gang-raped by her classmates.
According to them, she was raped because she refused to give them attention all through their school period and because they felt they are through with their study and exams, they can afford to commit the crime and go scot free.
In some cases, the SS3 students as they are commonly called, beat up their teachers who they felt gave them tough time during their school period while some destroy properties of the school. These acts are common in public schools because they believe they can get away with anything unlike the private schools where the proprietors can go after the parents.
Some students are languishing in the cells while some are still in jail because of excitement leaving the school or foolishness. We discovered that many of them celebrate their so-called freedom with parties which end up seeing them get drunk or having sex on their last day in school.
The victim of the last day in school are mostly the innocent ones especially those from good homes. Many of them went hell-wire after having a taste of the abnormal life on the last day.
There is no doubt that parents are the ones at the receiving end. It is either they will battle with the excesses of their teenagers after that day or they will be struggling to release their children, especially those in detention for involving in such acts or discovered to be friend to the culprits.
This is where the parents come in. There is need for them to continue to counsel their children on the need for them to be of good behaviour at all times. Many of them missed it in life because of their association with bad company. Some indulge in cultism, drug abuse, homosexualism, lesbianism, prostitution, stealing/robbery, hooliganism, just to mention a few.
Majority of the problems in the country today especially terrorism emerged from bad-home bringing. The lack of parental care or irresponsibility on the parts of parents are the reasons why crime rates are high today and will continue to be if government don’t come up with policies urgently to tackle them.
And if parents on their parts don’t also do something urgently, they will be the ones to bear the shame at old age. It is said in the local parlance, “Good name is better than gold and frankiscence hence the need to protect their names.
Everybody wants to associate with Oyedepo, Dangote, Otedola, Eneche, but nobody wants to associate with late Anini (notorious armed robber), Hushpuppy, and their likes. There is no doubt that Nigeria is a great nation but if Parents can take responsibility and begin to groom their children in the way and fear of the Lord, Nigeria will be one of the greatest countries in the world.
