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24 December 2007

School's out and our children are spending close to seven weeks 24 hours a day with their families and friends. The majority of our pupils lives in caring families and enjoys friendships and sporting and social lives appropriate to their age. However, December holidays are not only fun. There are children who, for a number of reasons, are not able to remain with their families or who may be at risk through violence, drug and alcohol abuse. We appeal to our parents and communities to discuss violence, alcohol and drug abuse with our children; to provide recreation opportunities for young people at home; to supervise our children's parties and to help homeless children and those children who look after someone else.

Our children should remember that staying sober and drug free is cool. You could get raped if you abuse alcohol and drugs and many teen pregnancies are the result of alcohol abuse. Do not do something that will jeopardise your health and future. December has also become synonymous with a long and agonising wait for the final Matric results and the same questions are always asked: "What will happen if my name is not on the list? What will my parents say? What will my friends say? What will I do? What if my marks are not good enough for the course I want to do?"

Learners, who may not find their names on published lists or those whose marks are not high enough to do the courses they applied for, must not immediately assume that they have failed without first checking with your school principal, who in turn will contact the district office to take the matter up with the provincial department. If you have indeed failed matric, it may feel like a death sentence but it is certainly not the end of the world. Success stories about people, who had failed a grade at school but still managed to pursue great careers, are not uncommon.

There is always a lot to learn from failure. The challenge is that we have to look hard and with an open mind to learn from our failures. Often the problem is not failure itself but the failure to learn from failure. It is important for our learners to find that inner strength, gift and talent deep inside themselves are something that makes a person unique. There are various other opportunities open to you, including Further Education Training (FET) colleges and of course making a second attempt at the Senior Certificate in 2008. With the support of parents, guardians and relatives, learners will be able to pull through and live to fight another battle.

We welcome the availability of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health's stress hotline during this stressful time of the year. We appeal to parents to support their distressed children and if necessary consult with the health's stress hotline or Life line, Childline, the family doctor, a mental health clinic or other support services.

Issued by: Department of Education, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
24 December 2007