Young people leading wasteful lives: Lawyer

National, Normal

STUDENTS who fail in school lose hope and resort to alcohol and drugs to gain courage so they can become rebellious against society, Public Solicitor Frazer Pitpit said.
Mr Pitpit said this at the graduation of Grade Eight students at Baso Primary School on Lou Island, Manus province, last week.
“They consume illicit substances such as marijuana and home-brew and cause law and order problems in communities around the country,” he said.
Mr Pitpit said young people who dropped out of school should not lose hope but strive to continue pursuing their dreams through other alternatives.
He said PNG was blessed with plenty of natural resources such as fertile land and seas abundant with fish and other marine resources “but our young people choose to live wasteful lives because they are lazy”.
Mr Pitpit encouraged school leavers from rural schools to plant cash crops, earn money through hard work and pay tuition fees in alternative learning institutions to broaden their chances of entering colleges or universities
He said he was kicked out of high school for fighting but changed his life and was given another chance to complete his studies.
“After I was expelled from high school, I earned A$12 working as a labourer but the school pardoned me after I wrote and convinced them that I had reformed.
“I grasped the opportunity with both hands and never looked back by going onto Aiyura National High School and the University of Papua New Guinea where I graduated and became a lawyer,” he said.
“If I can do it, you can do it too.”
Mr Pitpit and his delegation to the graduation included National and Supreme Court judge Justice Panuel Mogish, Chief Ombudsman Chronox Manek and university lecturer Jacob Morewaya.