Parents warned to know where teens are

MORE than 1,400 Clare teens were among the nearly 60,000 students who received their Junior Certificate results on Wednesday afternoon.

The Institute of Guidance Counsellors of Ireland (IGC) advised the 685 girls and 743 boys to celebrate sensibly and to use their first experience with State exams to their advantage.

“For many students this is the result of three years hard work and is a base for them to build their future studies on for the Leaving Cert and higher education. I would urge students to celebrate sensibly and anyone who is disappointed with their results should remember that this is a trial run and you can use this experience to do a lot better in the future. I would also remind them that there are many routes to what they want to do later in life, not just the academic one,” commented John O’Donovan, Clare representative on the ICG national executive.

While Wednesday night is the traditional night for Junior Cert celebrations, gardaí are also advising parents to know where their children are over the weekend.

“Parents should be aware of what their children are doing at the weekend. If they say they are going to a friend’s house, it is no harm to touch base with the other parents to see that is where they will be. We don’t want anyone getting into any trouble,” said Superintendent Derek Smart of Ennis Garda Station.

Buses of young people came from as far away as Tipperary and Galway to a disco in Ennis on Wednesday night.

“We had a policing plan in place in association with the schools and various boards of management. There were a lot of gardaí working for it. Young people are entitled to go out and have fun after working hard for the past three years but they have to remember they are not entitled to drink alcohol,” the superintendent continued.

The overall numbers sitting the Junior Certificate increased by 1.7% on last year and the proportion of candidates who are re-entrants to education has fallen marginally from 1.7 % of the cohort in 2012 to 1.5% in 2013.