Students end up in jail after exams, says magistrate

SOME students who have completed their final examinations in Western Highlands have ended up in court, a district court magistrate says.
Mt Hagen District Court magistrate Lydia Karre, speaking at the Mt Hagen Secondary School grade 12 graduation on Wednesday,  said one of the students who was just 13 years old was sent to prison by the juvenile court for being in possession of marijuana.
She said others who turned up in court where arrested by police for drinking. Karre said the drinking of alcohol by under-aged people was a criminal offence and many students were locked up in the police cells for four days and others were in the cells for fewer days.
She told the graduating students that the future of an individual rested on his or her own shoulders.
She said “peer pressure” was one that destroyed a good future and students had to be careful who they accompanied. Karre said drug, alcohol, sex before marriage, and education were areas which students needed to choose from.
“Your future depends on you since your parents brought you this far for you to see the light,” she said. “We may blame the parents but children from the ages of 13 to 18 should start choosing where they want their future to rest.”
She said sometimes it was good to blame the parents but sometimes not good as children needed to choose.
“Your parents have played their part to bring you this far and now you have to choose where you want to belong,” she said.
Karre said in her court room she found out that many students from grades 8 to 12 turned up after they were locked up by police.
“On you curriculum vitae do you want to see conviction written on it or you do not want to see it? No company would like to employ a person who has the mark of conviction on his or her curriculum vitae (CV).”