The oral final exams are taking place these days. An important moment for many boys and girls who, at the end of the “chat” with the teachers, often indulge in great celebrations for having finally completed their studies in high school. And it is precisely these celebrations that the letter written to us by a teacher from an institute in Bergamo talks about, and which we report below.
«Expectable PrimaBergamo,
I take the liberty of writing to you to point out the questionable habit, unfortunately now consolidated, of having uncivilized celebrations outside city institutions after the final exams (I attach photos).
As a teacher involved in one of the commissions present in my school, I witnessed just today (25 June, ed), with regrettable amazement, at the scene of a student who had just taken her exam and was celebrating with other classmates, behaving inappropriately for a person who should have just achieved the much-desired “maturity”: covered in shaving foam, she was laughing and joking in the middle of a sea of flour and broken eggs scattered on the ground. The worst thing is that these indecent celebrations took place in the presence of her parents, who were giggling and did not seem at all concerned that the ground near the school gate was being indecently smeared.
These out of place celebrations damage the image of the institute and I would like to say that of the entire community and demonstrate that for some students the civic education courses that we teachers implement from the first grade are of no use, if they then do not show respect even for the place where they studied and trained until recently.
I conclude by saying that unfortunately these uncivilized behaviors are an alarming sign of the current educational and social situation in which we live and of the contradiction of our times, in which schools and teachers are loudly asked to train and educate boys and girls, while on the other hand families and society tolerate and glorify such a circus, where the achievement of an important goal such as high school diploma is on a par with the most squalid New Year’s Eve party.
We should all seriously question the need to educate young people about responsibility and respect for the rules, both inside and outside of school. It is essential that a culture of civility is promoted, so that episodes like these do not occur again in the future.
I know that the University of Bergamo has taken action in this regard, given that similar incidents have also affected new graduates, and I hope that high school heads will soon follow suit.
The noisy and playful celebrations can easily continue outside the school institution, to which we should all show respect for what it still represents.
Thanks for your attention, a somewhat disappointed teacher.”
