I had a quick chat with Ita yesterday. I asked her about what’s new and what’s not about school. She told me about some teenage angst among the form 5 students. Yup. Among the students who she mentioned was in my class. When they caught the form four student last April due to “energy booster” stuff, I wrote to all my former form 4 students a letter.
I am a bit busy off lately. I don’t think I would have enough time to write each and every one of them a letter. But I will meet some of them this Friday for our tuition class in sha Allah. So, I would have a pep talk with them. There are various issues that teachers are worried about. Among the issues are coupling, same gender close relationship, a minor brawl (this one is due to minor misunderstanding between a senior and a junior relating to defending one’s girlfriend) and lack of motivation in their study. Some of the issues are part and parcel of life. As teenagers, they are exploring their identity and thus they need to learn to negotiate with others. It is not easy to do that. They need guidance and lots of patience from other adults.
But the thing is, when it comes to opposite gender relationship, for some teachers, it is too early for them to explore in that area. For me, it is ok as long as they know the boundary that they have to abide according to Islam. A normal note from one to another is common. To meet or hang out at the mall is normal (of course this is not right if you don’t observe “the” guideline). Some of them might say that their parents met when they were at school. They were high school sweet hearts. So sweet right? Yeah right. Now, their children are following their parents footsteps. Of course, this makes thing a bit challenging for the teachers because on one hand. the parents are ok with that and on the other hand, the teachers don’t want it to become a culture at school.
Some people can balance their act when it comes to studying and coupling. But if you have string of Cs and Ds, it clearly indicates that you need to focus on one aspect more than trying to focus on both. But again, it is choice. At the end of the day, the students need to decide and be accountable towards their decision.