Disadvantages of the Past Should Not Affect Future Successes

I am the principal of a high school in a youth village where about 90 percent of the students are boarding school students.

Coping with children who come from a variety of difficult backgrounds carries with it its own burdens.

After many years of experience I have come to the conclusion that a student`s past has already done them harm and it would only be a hinderance to let it further influence their future.

Before I present my educational agenda, I feel obligated to say that I think very highly of therapy and its potential benefit for the children; the only reason a student is exempt from a lesson is because of a therapy session. The premise is: Do not let the failures of the past ruin your future.

The path is discipline: first from the teachers, and then of the students. The lesson is to be treated with the upmost respect. Preventing a student from learning is akin to robbery.

Expectations of the student: Many of my students are accustomed to being treated with delicacy because of their difficult backgrounds, including whenever they run into a hardship. They use their backgrounds as excuses for failing grades, skipped classes, and by giving in to their stories we teach them that when life gets difficult, the only alternative is to give up and remain silent.

As students will enter the workforce they will realize that their sad life story is not one that will help them gain sucessful employment or one that will work as an excuse as to why they couldn`t show up to work on time or why they missed class.

While it may sound harsh, it is true.

Their past misfortunes have already influenced them enough. Let us not allow it to ruin their future.