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Fadzayi Maposah Correspondent

Parents, guardians and the so called Deputy Parents ( the eldest child) were very busy early this week. Schools opened this week. It was not just a new term but also a new year. Being responsible for another human being is not easy. There are some children who did not change schools. All they did was to move a grade up. Maybe the teacher did not change.

There are some schools where a teacher takes his class through two or three years. It is good if the teacher is one of your favourites. Suppose he or she is a nightmare teacher, one gets to be traumatised for the duration that the teacher and the student are together. These relationships have lasting impressions on the student. The teacher may forget you because remember there are always many students but one teacher.

When you meet a teacher you may have to remind me of the class and year you were under her/his tutorship. In reminding the teacher you must pick one or two names of students who were outstanding so as to quickly jostle the teacher’s mind. Outstanding can be in a good way or even those who were extremely naughty and were often punished!

Back to early this week and the beginning of the first term of 2024. There are some who were going to school for the very first time. Social media was awash with pictures and videos of such children. The pictures and videos had captions such as “the school journey begins”, “bundle of joy going to school for the first time”, “where does time go?”

The most consistent words were bundle of joy. Parents and guardians in most instances, do their best. It may not always work out that way but they do try and words such as “bundle of joy” show how much the parents love these children and the joy they have parenting them.

An acquaintance of mine had a series of videos on her WhatsApp status on their son’s first day of school. In the first video, the son introduces himself and talks about how he is going to enjoy school and not even cry as he will be having a good time. In the second video, the school bus is picking him up at their gate, the mother hands over her child to the teacher. He is resisting, using all the power that he can muster within him. He is really crying. It does appear like the one earlier who had said he will enjoy school and not even cry. The teacher reassures the mother that the first day is always difficult.

I am not a teacher but I know that the difficult phase can actually stretch into weeks! As the school bus leaves, the mother assures the son that she loves him and the sound of his crying is drowned by the bus driving off.

In the evening, she shares another video of her son telling her how the day was. He is calm and relates that he had a good day and has new friends. Good then I text her. The next day I text to ask how was the second day send off to school. She responds that he cried a lot more! I am sure that he will realise that this is one thing he has to do and that either he will cry everyday or actually endure it initially and then get to enjoy his time in school. This is just the beginning of a long education journey.

There are other children, no tears. For these children, their drama is in actually pushing everyone so that they are not late for school. Now with the sun rising much earlier than usual, some homes are getting a lot less sleep as the entire household is woken by someone who cannot tell the time but does not want to be late.

Other children’s drama is in that when they come back home, they are so scruffy, it is as if they have been in some mud slinging contest! They are ensuring that they are making the most of playtime. Seeing contrasts of the morning picture and the after school picture, one can only smile at the innocence!

Then there are those in boarding school for the first time, struggling to come to terms with a full tuck box for which they are solely responsible. What these ones do not realise quickly is that tuck quickly runs out. It is a lesson that one has to learn on their own. When the lesson is learnt, one begins to handle the tuck with much caution.

While families were in the back to school rush and its effect on the brain and the body, one family was thrown into a storm of emotions. As the mother pulled away the bed covers from their 11-year-old’s bed, she saw a blood stain on the bed. Quickly she removed the stained bed sheet and went to show her husband.

She was close to tears. The first thing that had come to her mind was that their daughter had been abused. Her husband’s pale face seemed to indicate that he thought the same. In their minds raced “ possible abusers” that were not verbalised as “there was no proof yet.”

Not knowing how to proceed they quickly called a neighbour trained to deal with abuse. When the daughter came out of the bathroom, she was informed “Aunty” wanted to talk to her.

Then the parents went to their room, encouraging one another as they waited. Feedback came. Their daughter was not abused, their bundle of joy had just started her menses! How our minds quickly rush to the worst case scenario!

As the new year, new school term begins, all the best. Remember beginnings can be in any aspect!