It is an acknowledged fact that the behaviour of our young is taking a turn for the worse. We are rushing headlong towards a rotten society where the number of juvenile offenders, hooligans and vandals will definitely be on the rise. Wherever they are – at school, in the street, in the bus or in the stadium in a gathering, their behaviour leaves a lot to be desired. They were not born like this! Why have they become like this? What are the contributory factors behind that behaviour? An in-depth analysis will point an accusing finger at their educators who have lamentably failed in their duties.

The society of tomorrow depends heavily on two institutions to make it liveable - namely the home and the school. If today our society is threatened by moral bankruptcy, it is simply because these two institutions have been failing in their roles as educators. If the education of the child begins at home, it has to be followed up at school where he spends six hours. These two institutions have a complementary role to play in the education of the child. School should on no account be a place where only figures and letters are taught to the learners, otherwise their education will be incomplete. School cannot be exam-oriented only. Informal education should also be the concern of the rector and the staff. They simply cannot overlook that material aspect of education. Otherwise they will do a great disservice to our education system as a whole. The society of tomorrow depends heavily upon that aspect of education.

<B>Group intoxication</B>

Secondary schooling has a crucial role to play in the behaviour patterns and social development of the learners, especially where peer-group pressure is concerned. It is recognized fact that a child has two different kinds of behaviour - one when he is alone and the other when he is in a group. When he is alone, he can bottle up his feelings and emotions and control his actions. He can be a model of a boy at home. In the street and in the bus he can behave himself with dignity since he has utter control on all his emotions.

But that very boy can have a completely different attitude in group. All of a sudden he can lose control and react differently. He falls under the influence of the group and gets carried away. He stops using his judgement and becomes a blind follower. He copies what his friends are doing. He feels strong because he is solidly backed up by them. He dances to their tune and joins in their chorus. He is utterly intoxicated by the group. He behaves in the same way as the one who is under the influence of alcohol. When he is sober, he has complete control over his words and actions, but when he is drunk, he thinks he can move a mountain.

That is why certain parents cannot understand the behaviour of their wards at school. When they are summoned to school and are told about the behaviour of their wards, they are simply flabbergasted. They find it hard to swallow how their children who usually have a good conduct at home have misbehaved at school. But a simple analysis of the situation will reveal that it is group intoxication which is behind the misbehaviour. So it is group intoxication which is the root cause of students’ misbehaviour in the stadium, the street, the bus or any gathering.

Likewise the child becomes a compulsive blind follower of the group. His language, behaviour, way of dressing change to suit the occasion and those of the group - when you are in Rome, you’ve got to behave like the Romans to avoid being like a fish out water. To form part of the group he has no alternative than to dance to their tune. The group influence weighs heavily on him. This is how he becomes a drinker, smoker, vandal or hooligan if his group indulges in these doings. This is one of the reasons why gatherings like inter-college sports, Jump Around Youth Concert and even outings have been banned because of the peer-group pressure which gives rise to all sorts of dirty doings. The last Jump Around Youth Concert, which took place in front of the Town Hall of Curepipe, witnessed “a real scandal and an orgy of alcohol and sex among the young…”

Besides imposing a ban on certain gatherings where peer-group pressure is usually intense, we have to educate these youngsters on how to behave in groups. And school, where peer-group pressure is mostly active and felt, has a material role to play in the education of the young, especially at the group intoxication level: “Education is not jus academic learning.” Apart from grooming the learners to earn their living tomorrow, it is the duty of the school to prepare them for the society of tomorrow. It lies with the rector and his staff to see to that. It is simply a part of the teaching process. Any attempt to get round that significant aspect of teaching will simply do a great disservice to the education of the learners and their social development. So that education aspect should be dealt with at school if we want a healthy society tomorrow.

A liveable society</B>