Managing privileges

By Simon

It feels good to have that driver’s license in your pocket, doesn’t it? In addition to this, the old man agreed for you to move out of the main house into the SQ. Now you can control your schedule — come home any time you want and not feel guilty about waking somebody to open the door for you.

In addition to this, your dad got you a laptop computer to start you off in this life or your parents agreed for you to move that old desktop PC into your room. With a little bit of luck, you may get Internet access from that neighbour who forgot to put a password on his Wifi. Everything is falling into place and your privileges are increasing by the day.

However, there are three things you ought to know about privileges — they come with responsibility. Most of them can be transformed into blank cheques and they can be escalators to either fortunes or misfortunes.

Responsibility

A driver’s license is an admirable privilege. Having your own crib is a good privilege, just like owning a PC or any other thing that may come your way. When you get privileges, you should enjoy and utilise them with the respect they deserve. When you get to drive your siblings for a trip, ensure they fasten their seat belts and behave themselves throughout the journey. Again, a driver’s license does not necessarily make you a good driver. Rather, it is the way you drive and the responsibility you display on the road that makes you a good driver. Learn to drive carefully, observing all the rules and courtesy while sticking to acceptable speed limits.

Owning a PC and having the privacy and freedom to do what you will is not a go ahead to do the wrong things. Instead of letting the guys make your machine a porn dispenser, you should lead the way into helping them appreciate it as a resource that can be utilised for positive gain.

This also applies to other privileges like having your own crib, which should not be transformed into a place where your buddies can drag their catch for a good time. Such things should not happen under your watch. When you are in a position of responsibility, you will have to frequently say ‘No’ to ensure some of the privileges in your hand are used effectively and not misused.

Blank cheques

Many privileges come to us for a reason. A driver’s license can be transformed from a highly regarded piece of paper into an income generating tool. A personal computer can be changed from a music playing, movie viewing and Facebook browsing tool into a money-minting machine by learning some basic computer techniques and skills.

These things include website design, computer programming (using easy-to-learn and high-powered languages such as PHP, J2ME, Java and MySql Server and other applications) among others.

?These sound like rocket science, but with a little Internet research and help from experienced computer programmers, they are easy to learn and have enormous potential to generate you lots of cash. You may be surprised to learn that banks, businesses and even mobile money transfer services are anchored on a series of linked databases that are programmed to communicate with each other.

With just a little knowledge in computer programming, your creativity and innovation is the limit. These can be lots of fun while at the same time opening up possibilities of earning some money. Most billion-dollar applications such as Facebook were created in school dormitories or on bedroom PCs.

?Escalators to fortunes or misfortunes

If not utilised appropriately, a driver’s license, for example, can easily become a death license. Having your own crib exposes you to many risks and temptations such as casual sex, pornography as well as drugs and substance abuse.

Some of these risks can turn fatal, for example, getting infected with HIV. Others, such as masturbation and drug abuse, in addition to being undesirable habits, can be addictive, hard to drop and cause a host of other problems.

The bottom-line, however, is that privileges are good when they come around, but we have to manage them.