Headmaster'sAddress on Speech Day,24September 1993 Mr Chairman and Mrs Polkinghome,Mr Tony Leon,Mr Deputy Mayor, Trustees and Members of the Board of Governors,Distinguished Guests,Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to you all. Iam delighted to see: Mr&Mrs Ardington - Chairman of Michaelhouse Mr&Mrs Brazier - Chairman ofSt Mary's Mr&Mrs Clarence - Highbury Mr&Mrs Allen - Kloof Mr&Mrs Reid - Deputy Durban Girls' College Mrs Yardley - Winston Park Dr&Mrs Mdlalose - Kwazulu Minister ofHealth Thank you for being with us today. I often marvel at the spirit of youth. If only all of us could 'think young'I am sure we would make this a better world. Take the start of this novel written by Timothy Barnes in Form 2: "My name is Diamond,Tim Diamond,investigator,tough guy and general Warren Beatty impersonator.I live in my office downtown with asaxophone player outback so that I don't have to hire a musician for the soundtrack.Times are hard. My last case was to try and find the thief who swiped the hubcapsfrom my bicycle.LikeItold you,times are hard. I was relaxing in my chair when Lucy,a reporterfrom the Daily Sneak,burstinto my office.Aknifejutted outofher neck;she'd obviously been shaving. "Diamond," she gasped,"I walked in on a drug and dia mond smuggling gig in container terminal number six on the docks." She gasped once more,then fell limp into my arms.I ex amined the body:the knife wasa SwissArmy Knife;obvi ously the murdereris rich.I picked upthe phone and called the coroner. "Come to Diamond Investigative Company.Quick before I pass out.1 hate the sight of blood." As I walked in the dock area that night, every footfall seemed to have an echo,a partner.Every shadow to have a Kelloggs Com Flakes murderer(a cereal killer)." 1 chuckled all the way through as 1 read this little novel. Yet,youth is posing hard questionsto theirelders.Given an enlightened education,their desire forsocialjustice and concern for otherssurmounts the barriers ofrace and religion erected by those whose beliefs have grown rigid. In their willingness to share, their compassion and their wish to see justice done,the youth oftoday is tacitly ask ing: Why should people go hungry? Why should they be bru talized? Why should they have to live in a dirty environmnent? Why shouldn't everybody live in reason able comfort, dignity, freedom and peace? Why can't all find steady employment? Thank heaven for the idealism and hope of youth. Hope is the strongest weapon in their spiritual arsenal. Young people can be battered down again and again,and still come up with fresh possibilities to sustain them.But they are alsoimpressionable and changeable,so their hopes can be lost. My plea is for parents to keep their youthful hope and idealism alive. This is especially so ata time when realism is the order of the day.After the economic and political disappointments ofthe past few years, there has been a growing tendency to urge young people to be realistic about the future. But we must be careful that our"realism"is not merely pessi mism in disguise. Don'talwayssee the glass as halfemptyand never half full. Young people are constantly being told notto be soimpa tient, but if there was ever anything to be impatient about, it is the wretchedness that besets so much ofour country. Rather than cautioning them to slow down in their drive for a better South Africa, we should be throwing our own particular abilities into an alliance with them to accelerate the process as much as possible. Youths are notorious for having big ideas. The biggestidea ofall-that peace and prosperity can he madeto reign herein ourland-is one thatcriesout for the active support ofeveryone ofany age. In my reportfor the year,Icannot possibly mention every thing.Instead,I will focus on the most salient features. TheimplementationofourLeadership programmedeserves mention as it has been one ofour success stories. The portfolio system gave direction to the prefects so ably led by Stuart Groom and Andre Simonsz. It was good to see standards maintained with a happy co operative climate evident throughout the school.This has been a talented matric group who have responded to the challenge and given of their best in all spheres ofCollege life. Well done and thank you 6th Form.Our Post Matrics have been a greatcreditto the College.Eleven ofthe 12in last year'sgroup gained entrance to tertiary education which should silence the sceptics when one realises that none would have been accepted without the year. Every efforthas been madeto maintaina healthylearn ing environment.I have no doubt we are succeeding. This was a year ofconsolidation.The 1992 Matric results saw 91 boys pass,69 with exemption, with 4'A' aggre gates,14'B'aggregates,29subject distinctions and3fail ures. Our Market Research showed quite categorically that our parents considered academics ofprimeimportance.Itis of interest to note that so did the pupils. Forthe first time,I have had complaints about boys work ing too hard and too late. It seems our endeavour to keep hard work as part ofour ethos is bearing fruit.AsThomas Edison so aptly said: "I never did anything worth doing by accident,nor did any of my inventions come by accident, they came by hard 15
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