The school year is almost over and the time of graduation is ahead. Families, educators, and students are proudly enjoying celebrations and happily anticipating what lies ahead for the graduates.
Some will go to Israel for a year. Some will take an interlude to learn in a yeshiva or a seminary. Some will enter kollel, family businesses or jobs. Some will begin college.
The goal for each step is, in essence, priming for the next. Parents and teachers want to feel they have equipped their charges with the skills needed to succeed in their quest. Yet, despite all good intentions, many of our children are launched into a world they are ill prepared to navigate.
They may have taken the required courses, scored well on the tests, and earned good grades. However, it is sometimes tempting to experiment when alone for the first time. Sometimes it is easy for a naive youngster to fall under the influence of a charismatic classmate or even a teacher or other adult. Unfortunately, smoking is not the only bad habit to be picked up, even in a frum environment.
Parents often feel their son or daughter is in a proper facility and so nothing improper could ever happen. Unfortunately they are wrong. There is no place or house or school that is immune. Before your child goes away for a year, a summer, a semester, or even a Shabbaton, sit down and discuss the slew of different contingencies that could occur. If it makes you uncomfortable to deal with these issues, think how much more uncomfortable you will be if he or she succumbs. Make it clear that the youngster can and should say no to something that is not “kosher.”
College-bound students face an extended set of very difficult challenges. They have to deal with the dilemmas already mentioned and they must face the anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism that are rampant on college campuses today. Give them information. Make sure they know that Jew-hatred and Israel-hatred are based on falsifications of history and twisted rhetoric. There are many Jewish organizations that offer books and brochures on this subject. Arm your child with the truth.
Mazel tov to the graduates. May you go from strength to strength. Be strong. Be steadfast. Enjoy your ascent into life. You are making an aliyah. Don’t let anything drag you down.
