Feature: What Are You Doing This Summer?

Asks Joe Kingsley Eyiah, Teacher, Brookview Middle School, Toronto

It’s hot and bright. The weather is very inviting. Outside is all fun. Since school is on break what are you doing out there with your free time? Yes, you know who are I’m talking to. Don’t you? It’s you! What are you doing this summer?

Freedom from books could be dangerous. Couldn’t it? Alas, it could be freedom from doing the right (good) thing. Obviously, bad things occupy any space devoid of good things. And the devil, they say, also finds job for the hands, I have heard about the movie- called “I Know What You Did Last Summer”. Those who have watched this movie have a lot to say. I mean a lot of bad things to say! Some students are tempted to do unfortunate things during summer. Of late, there has been too much of a tendency for students to be caught up in the web of crimes- shoplifting, drugs peddling, car racing on our streets, gun violence and drunk-driving- during summer. This situation is alarming in our large cities such as Toronto from year to year.

The year 2007 is gradually becoming the most dreadful year of violence in Toronto. The weekend of July 21 alone recorded four shooting deaths in the Toronto metropolis. Among the victims was a 11-year-old Grade 6 student, Ephraim Brown, of my school. He was gunned down in front of his home in a cross gun battle between two gang groups. Senseless killings!

What Do We Do as Parents/Community?

What can we do as parents and as a caring community to ensure that our children/students are doing the right things; and that they are safe where they are during the summer? Here are few suggestions.

Some working parents who can afford take summer vacations and travel with their families to other places away from the bustle and hustle of the city as soon as schools go on the summer break. That is very commendable, but not all parents can afford that every summer. Nevertheless, it is incumbent upon all parents to be with their children all the time whether they take the kids on vacation or not.

Do you not feel guilt when you are asleep deep into the night and you have no idea where your children are or what they are up to at that time of the night? Maybe not! But that can be very dangerous. It is better to keep your kids safe all the time and especially during the night.

What parents can do is also sign up their children for summer camps during the school break. There are a lot of summer camp programs, which are very engaging yet full of fun to registered your children with. That gives you some break as a parent.

Churches, social clubs and sporting clubs must be seen actively reaching out to children in the communities where operate. Their caring efforts must be doubled during summer when students could run loose. The Malls and parks should become operating grounds to harness in the energies of the students, which could be directed into wrong/unlawful acts of “juvenile delinquency” if we choose to call it so.

Concerned residents in areas vulnerable to crimes must join hands to lobby for facilities and programs that will engage their young people positively. We should not wait for horrible crimes to be committed in our communities before we show concern. Prevention is always better than cure!

Our politicians have become “talking-machines”. They talk and promise a lot but do very little for us. We see them even playing politics with our sufferings. We need to make them more responsible by holding them accountable to their promises. There should be more summer jobs and playing facilities for our youth. Government prison facilities and law enforcement agencies should be more of correctional rather than punitive places/bodies for the youth who fall victims to the laws of the land. The government must spend more money on education and community programs than on building more prisons for our youth.

A Word to All:

All said and done, there should be collaborative efforts on the part of the government, community and church leaders, schools, and the home (parents) to inculcate the values of life in our young ones. It takes the whole village to raise a child!

Many teachers are taking summer courses. Some parents are on summer vacation with their families. Many students are either doing summer jobs or enrolled in summer camps and clinics. What are you doing this summer?

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.