Even very clever people can be stupid.... this is the lesson learned by ten high school students in the USA who had just been accepted into one of the top Ivy League universities – Harvard.  In anticipation of their enrolment into the school they had joined a private Facebook group which was set up by the University for newly admitted students.  However they had started two new groups where they had posted obscene and upsetting posts which contained highly offensive content.

Some Harvard students who had seen the content on the group reported it to the University officials who took swift action against the teenagers requesting a full explanation for the offensive material.  Obviously the explanation was not satisfactory and they lost their places at Harvard.  One of the clauses in the admissions policy states that “...Harvard reserves the right to withdraw its offers of acceptance if an "admitted student engages in behavior that brings into question his or her honesty, maturity, or moral character."

Young people in South Africa are starting to secure their places in Universities for the coming years and would be well advised to be very careful not to make the same mistakes as these students in the USA.  Our universities have similar provisions regarding admission and will often specify that an offer of admission can be revoked.  Nobody should be jeopardising their future for a silly meme.