REHOBOTH – Rehoboth residents expressed dismay over the abuse of alcohol during roudy matric farewell parties following the arrival of a number of Grade 12 boys of M & K Gertze in Rehoboth at one such party with glasses filled with sparkling wine over the weekend.
“I give teachers the blame when children come to events like this with alcohol, because they must warn them at school. In fact, they must have thrown them out for coming here with those glasses, I saw it too,” said Dnobelie Cloete. Cloete who has children enrolled at the school, explained that incidents like those reflect badly on the school’s reputation.
Jiena Mouton, also a resident of Rehoboth was likewise not impressed with the behaviour of the learners. “It is simply not a good picture and creates a very bad impression of the school. It tells you that they always drink during these times. I mean for them to walk in like that means teachers allow these kinds of things. I do not know who you give the blame, the teacher or the parents?” she sighed. When approached for comment, a teacher at the school, Izanne Claasen, claimed not have seen any learner arriving with champagne glasses at the glamorous event. She later returned to explain that the boys claimed to have left their glasses outside the venue. However, she became very hostile when this reporter offered to show her photographs, asking whether it was really necessary for it to become a news story. “Do you really have to write about this?” she asked, to which this reporter replied in the affirmative. “But you were not even invited to this event,” she retorted angrily. Some of the students approached for comment appeared rather impressed by the reckless bravado of their peers and their drunk-as-a-skunk antics.
Jemima Beukes