Opinions of Wednesday, 6 April 2022
Columnist: Akumbobe Robert
2022-04-06Step-by-step guide to helping first-year SHS students live independently of their parents
Some Senior High School students
To leave the comfort and the guidance of one's parents, all of a sudden to a new environment with completely new people can be of great challenge to many.
This is even more challenging for these teenagers who have to make the choice of leaving their parents to a new environment in search of academic laurels.
Graduates of the junior high schools who
Read full article.have been placed in the various Senior High Schools are reporting to their respective schools to start their academic work. It will be the first time for most of them to live outside of the comfort of their homes and away from the direct influence of their parents.
It will be a great problem for many, and for some, it is their cocoa season. In this article, we will look at the mistakes of others, and this will help shape the path to take for these newcomers.
First-year students who are in boarding institutions or rented apartments in the case of day students have a lot of things to learn.
They have to make decisions that are not limited by their finances, relationships with others, academics, and even their religious lives. This can be challenging for most of these teenagers.
Making academic decisions
The reason these students leave behind their comfortable homes, and their parents is the desire to achieve academic laurels, unfortunately, most students make poor choices on this issue. It will surprise you to know that even first-year students do not turn up for classes.
They either go to hide somewhere during class hours on the blind side of the school authorities or choose to go back to the dorms to sleep, especially if the dorms are not locked. This is even worse for preps or evening studies.
Boarding school students are required to go back to their classrooms to study after their evening meals. Most schools also organize classes during preps, but most students do not go for these classes, and sadly, some first-year students are victims too.
Building relationships with others
We all depend on each other, and no one can survive on their own without the assistance of others. Building a relationship with others, without the advice of your parents can be challenging for a teenager.
Some students fall victim to bad colleagues who deceive them to go into a lot of issues. Some students under the influences of their friends have gone into stealing, smoking, and other bad habits which hitherto were alien to them.
Reports of immoral sex relations among students are rift. Some of them even get pregnant by their colleagues or partners in town, whom they normally visit on the blind side of the school authorities. This issue can be ameliorated if parents take the following steps.
Parents should try to make regular visits to the schools to meet with their wards.
This will help them to confide in you about some challenging issues they encounter in school. You can also get a teacher from the school to be checking on your ward for you. This may not be easy for the teachers given the number of teachers in the school and the students.
Making decisions concerning their finances.
Finance is crucial in everyone's life. A lack of it or too much of it can have unexpected consequences.
There are instances when students receive money from their parents and spend it on their friends. Others have also gone into stealing because they lack money to supplement what they eat from school, which is always insufficient.
So, as a parent, you must be measured in what you do as far as finances are concerned. It should not be too much, for this has the potential of influencing the attention of the child to studies.
Religious activities
Religion plays a major role in the lives of every human being.
Children belong to religious organizations at home, and most of them turn to changing their religions or abandoning them completely when they leave the direct influence of their parents.
Continuous monitoring of your child, while they are in school, is the only way for you to ensure that they still stick to their religion while in school.
The various religious groups have patrons. You can also identify the patron of the religious organization that your child belongs to and let them monitor your child for you.
In conclusion, our secondary school students may be making decisions that are not in their best interests. You must visit them from time to time to guide them well. You can also ask for assistance from their teachers to pay more particular attention to your ward.