III
First fall
Dropped out of school
The artist's comment Not only the
clothing these youngsters are wearing but also their way of wearing them
shouts out their desire for freedom: loose trousers, open shirts, untied
laces. This is a freedom which feeds on violations of the law, a freedom
which wants nothing to do with institutions and social conventions. They
share a cigarette. Smoking makes them feel as though they are standing
tall and sure of themselves, but their eyes betray their sadness and
bewilderment. And these same
eyes, behind pretended bravado, are lost in the emptiness created by a
lack of ideals. Their graffiti on the wall behind them are spattered
with remnants of their nightmares and glimpses into the dark monsters
which threaten to drag them off. |
| A reflection by Brother Bernard Couvillion |
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The small group of 15- and 16-year-olds was waiting in an automotive workshop where they report each day as an alternative to ordinary classrooms. With fanfare and cameras, the team presented to them the “superior general from Rome and the provincial.” We extended our hands to greet each one in turn. But the second in line, arms firmly crossed, threw back his head. He refused to shake our hands. That gesture of protest hollowed out a spot in me sensitive to the shame and anger felt by young people who fail out of school. Archbishop Maurice Couture of Québec said recently,
“When a third of our young people drop out before completing secondary
school, that is a failure for an entire society. Dropping out is the
result of a wide pattern of abandonment.” (Notre-Dame-du-Cap,
November 1995) “Why not leave?” asks a student. “My school was a
horrible place. Graffiti, vandalism, and potheads everywhere. Two fires
in the toilets shut the whole school down for almost two months. Half of
the class is always absent. Every morning my stomach was in knots.” (Actualité,
September 1, 1995) In some school systems failure is a matter of
educational policy. It weeds out the average students to guarantee
university studies to the elite. In Togo, I am told, of those who sit for the BAC at the end of secondary school, only 18% pass. The competition is intense. Furthermore, because of economic and political factors, students are often robbed of their efforts. There are years of study lost: “blank years” when the government does not even administer the exam. Teachers take jobs in two or three schools to make a decent living; they often don’t show up. Students waste their time waiting. Unscrupulous officials, selling copies of the exam, cause widespread cheating scandals that invalidate the results of the conscientious. |
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We give voice to the prayer of young drop-outs
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O
Lord, you are just in all you have done, for we have sinned and
transgressed by departing from you, and we have done every kind of evil.
Do not deliver us up forever. Do not take away your mercy from us for we
are reduced, O Lord, brought low everywhere in the world because of our
sins. But with contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received; we
fear you and we pray to you. |