The 2017 school year officially ends today when more than 227,000 students take a seven-week break.

Then they return for the new 2018 school year.

Some good advice have been given during various school prizegiving ceremonies.

Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho told Suva Muslim College students: “Over the next few weeks, how and who you choose to spend your time with, can either empower you or will be detrimental to your well-being, so think carefully, before being asked to do something.”

He has repeated this message to other schools he has visited. The school holidays co-incide with the start of the festive season. It is sometimes referred to as the “silly season” for a very good reason.

People tend to ignore safety precautions, drop their guard and throw themselves into the festive spirit.

As we have learned from history, the consequences can be painful and devastating.

It’s a time when the road death toll, drowning, domestic/social violence, suicide and crime rates usually increase.

Can we buck this trend? Can we aim for zero? We can if we heed the counsel of Brigadier-General Qiliho and others.

He said: “With the right determination and commitment, anything is possible.”

This is a good time to mobilise our children to occupy their free time in a productive and exciting way.

Children must not be left with nothing to do if both parents work. It’s when they are idle that negative and evil thoughts cross their mind.

Idleness is a tool of the devil and he uses it to cause havoc in the lives of our young people. It leads to mischief and petty crimes.

Working parents must ensure that their children are busy doing something positive and productive. They should be monitored and the younger ones need to be supervised.

Many of these students are in the age of adolescence and are about to make the transition into adulthood. It is a time of exploring, experiments and discovery. It is a learning curve for many. With proper guidance from parents and guardians, they can be helped to move in the right direction. One of the biggest challenges is peer pressure and it can easily lure the students into anti-social behaviour.

Brigadier-General Qiliho said our children were growing up at a time when their life was some times more complicated than ours.

“Their world as you can see is dictated by society and what is perceived to be acceptable behaviour. And while some are clearly unacceptable in our eyes, to them it may seem cool and everyone wants to be part of the cool crowd.”

Here’re some good tips for parents and guardians during and after school from Dr Brij Lal, FijiFirst MP, who spoke at the DAV College prizegiving:

Give more time to your children.

Spare time in your busy routine, for your children. If you keep on ignoring your children, it will make them feel irresponsible.

Provide them a supportive environment in your home.

Home environment affects a student’s life a lot. Create a loving environment and have good relationships among all family members.

 Encourage your children

Appreciate if they do well in the exam and if they get lower grades encourage them to work harder.

iscuss with your children their problems.

Your children may have some problems which hinder their progress. Ask your children if they have some problems and try to solve them. Be friendly while talking to them so that they can open up.

Keep a watch on the activities of your children

Watch the daily activities of your children and see they are not using their time and energy in unnecessary activities.

If parents do care about the welfare of their children, they will do all the above to keep them safe and well this festive season.

Feedback:  losirene.lacanivalu@fijisun.com.fj