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The Nairobian recently published a list of crazy high school punishments. We asked our readers to send us their most memorable punishments in school and here are some of the responses:
1. Kuosha ng’ombe Gilbert Alukwe recalls how often they had to wash cows. Some schools keep grade cows and offenders had to deal with the animals which cared less about hygiene. Indisciplined students had to fetch water and bathe the cows. But this came with unexpected perks, as enterprising learners took the opportunity to milk the cows!
2. Making noise nonstop for a day Prefects had a field day snitching on noise-makers. But there were perennial noise makers who never failed to appear on the ‘sin list.’ One of them was Jeff Khaemba, who was ordered one day by the headteacher to make noise. Yes, go to the field and make noise from 8am to 5pm non-stop!
3. ‘Driving’ a wheelbarrow Patrick Kirui had to push an empty wheelbarrow the whole week everywhere he went. And so there he was with his ‘one-wheeled car’ in class, dining hall, dormitory even the toilet! He reveals that he had to ‘drive’ the damn thing all day for a week, and look for parking space for it.
4. Eating whole sufuria of githeri Some students dashed for extra food over lunch or supper, but for Katalia Sabastian, lining up for ‘addition’ led to a punishment of ‘chewing’ a whole sufuria of githeri. He says that his teeth became so sore and he couldn’t stop farting!
5. Weeding Napier grass Baha OJ recalls how high Napier grass had grown in his former high school’s shamba. So, one day when he was on the wrong side of the law, he had to weed a whole plot on a rainy day.
6. Beba kuni Mary Ibrahim, remembers how she had lug firewood on her back and walk uphill with the load. Reason? She overslept!
7. ‘Matuta’ guy Remember matuta? The hairstyle some women forced us to believe was the perfect style to sleep in? In some boys’ school, a student who had Afro on was forced to plait matuta for the ‘offence.’ Being a day school, you can imagine how long the journey home must have been.
8. Brushing teeth Joan Chesang Sang’i remembers how a colleague was asked to use a whole tube of toothpaste to brush her teeth. Reason? She had brushed her teeth in classroom instead of the dorm.
9.Fagia soko
What if your school was around a soko? Honeycup Bukhy recalls how her punishment was sweeping Chesamisi market and depositing the dirt in the school’s garbage pit. It took her a whole day. Reason? She had bought mahindi choma from across the school fence.
10. Ride in the Heady’s pick-up
For Grace Ngari, being caught skiving meant spending time atop the headteacher’s pick-up as he went for day-long meetings and even shopping. That was one long day of scorching sun.
