The question of a student’s discipline should not be confined to certain boundaries. Once a child enrolls at a school, he or she immediately becomes part and parcel of that school in several ways. A student is an extension of the school’s brand and serves as an ambassador of the school. This is why it is very important for him or her to maintain an acceptable level of discipline at all times. If a student is involved in any transgressions during the holiday, we cannot just wish it away by saying; after all he was not at school when it happened. This is because any chance of identifying the student will have to mention the school. “X, a student of XYZ secondary school was caught by police in an operation to round up drug users in the city” that is how the story is most likely to appear in the press. No school would be happy to carry the burden of being associated with drug users or criminals of any kind. Almost every school uniform has a unique badge to help identify a student’s school even when one is outside the school premises. This is a clear sign that a student should strive to live up to the ethics and values of their school at all times. Once outside the school one should strive not to put the school’s name or even their own name in disrepute. The school should be proud of you and you should be proud of it as well. If the school has not gone out of its way to soil your name as a student, then why should you not return the favour by maintaining the best behaviour even out of school? At all times a student should be aware that whatever they do reflects on more than just themselves as individuals. Society looks at you as an individual, as belonging to a certain school, as a child from a certain family and above all as a Rwandan citizen. Therefore there is a clear challenge not to tarnish the name of any of the above just because you are out of school. Good conduct should not be something one switches on while at school and then off during the holidays. It should be a constant.
