It all started with matrics celebrating their last day at school before the start of their exams, this is usually a nightmare for the rest of the school as matrics pelt learners with eggs and water balloons, smear polish and throw flour around. This celebration has been happening for many years and is not governed by the school, yet kids being kids will break the rules.
This year, the group of matrics decided to take it up a couple of notches and add a few cans of pepper spray and two live chickens, well at least they were alive at the start of the day. This year, according to media (which we now all know love fabricating news) the learners used pepper spray on both learners and teachers, the article mentioned that both learners and teachers that were sprayed were unable to see and had difficulty breathing. What normal human being would do that to another? A group of kids decided that they would bring a couple of runaways to school, but it’s alleged that they took this fowl act further and then kicked the chickens around like rugby balls until both of them died. So now, for those of you who have not read the articles that have been flooding the local and national papers you would think that this would be the headline. But guess what, you’d be wrong.
What proceeded from here was a normal reaction from a headmistress whose learners had behaved like complete imbeciles, an assembly whereby I assume stern words of warning were given and normal talks about the reputational damage that such acts of horror could bring to the school. In one of the articles I came across I read that the schools matric dance was also cancelled, I see that as small punishment for the seniors of the school that acted like uneducated peasants. In this assembly it’s alleged that the headmistress said “You guys are blackening the schools name”. How shocking that Mrs Nic would say something like that, she’s being racist. No, she’s not being racist, she’s speaking English, maybe if learners took time to read books, newspapers, magazines or online articles they would realise that the term blackening was used to make a statement on how these learners are tarnishing the schools name and not as a race specific word. So now that the kids of Mondeor High School are in some serious trouble, they need to come up with a master plan to turn the tables. What better way to do this than to run to their parents and say “Mrs Nicolaou said that black people are ruining the school”, and then it’s game on, angry mom calls the media, media takes a statement and there you have it, four days in a row the article about the racist principal made various print and online media. How quickly and easily the learner’s acts of shame and murder were put on the back burner and the reputation of one the most respected woman I know is being destroyed day by day, all because these learners fail to absorb the knowledge that is passed onto to them by the teachers at this school.
My last year at this school, was my best year. I was motivated and knew that I can’t let myself, my family and Mrs Nic down and I didn’t. I got through my final year without abusing other kids with eggs, flour, polish, water and killing innocent animals. I was able to better myself and excel in a successful career.
I can proudly say that Mrs Nic played a huge role in getting me to where I am today and guess what, I’m Indian and she’s white, what does that tell you? This woman does not have a racist bone in her body and it’s time the media focus on the inhumane acts that took place on matric day and forget about the misinterpretation that took place at the schools assembly.
Krien Kistnasami
Past learner – MHS
*Letter shortened.
