Increased school unrest raises key concerns

Students at Tulwet Secondary School in Bureti Constituency, Kericho County after a fi re razed their dormitory recently. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

The arrest of some high school students found in compromising situation on-board a public service vehicle on August 7, not only shocked parents and guardians, but also triggered public uproar.

As parents struggled to come into terms with the troubling news, the rest of the country too sighed with concern as the incident exposed increasing cases of indiscipline, unrest and drug abuse in secondary schools.

Police investigations showed that the occupants of the Kayole-bound matatu had been in constant communication with each other prior to the meeting between the boys’ and girls’ schools that were involved.

At a recent meeting of education stakeholders, it emerged that the instability goes even deeper.

Some 26 schools have been closed in Machakos, nine in Nakuru, five in Busia and another four each in Embu and Bomet counties. Cumulatively, cases of unrest have led to the closure of about 50 schools in 11 counties.

For instance, at least 20 schools in Coast have been burnt in the last one month and dozens of students charged with offences relating to arson in Kilifi and Taita Taveta counties.

In the two counties, several students were arrested in possession of petrol, which they intended to use to torch their schools.

Some students have alleged mistreatment from school authorities; others attributed unrest to the clamour for the acquisition of a school bus, while others, bizarrely strike because mock examinations are ‘difficult.’

In spite of this shock though, experts opine that while some parents are aware of the mischief their children are involved in, a vast majority are ignorant of the going-ons.

“Some attribute this to a hectic schedule, while others have simply abdicated their parental roles to schools and house helps. What happened in that Nairobi-bound bus is just the tip of the iceberg,” anthropologist Chege Mbataru said.

“We just do not have time anymore and this has a direct impact on what our children become.”

“We do not take time to know and understand our children, their friends and interests or even bother to find out how they spend their leisure. We are bringing up a bunch of strangers,” Mbataru said.

Average couple

For instance, he says, an average urban couple spends about five hours daily with their children on weekdays and a possible eight hours over the weekends, excluding bed time.

“But some even spend less than three hours with their children every day,” he says. “You leave work at 5pm, spend two hours in traffic, get home at 7pm and your child is in bed by 9pm. There is literally no time for instruction or bonding,” he explains.

Consequently, children are left in the care of ‘strangers’ whose strategies of instilling discipline in children differ.

The children hence end up getting instructions from the different influencers around them.

“It is the media, the nannies, friends and teachers who are left with the task of instilling right and wrong within these young minds,” sociologist George Ouko said. “And this influence is not always positive.”

“They imitate us. We get home and spend the better part of the evening on the Internet, our children will do the same thinking that this is the norm,” Ouko adds.

Unmonitored access to and use of modern communication tools such as the Internet may occasionally result into even graver ventures by hormonal teens.

“The violent protests are a manifestation of something that points to the disintegration of society as we knew it. It is almost impossible for a child from a stable family to for instance, lead a violent strike because of a school bus,” Ouko says. “The problem is at home.” Child psychology experts believe that although a child is also a product of the environment in which he is brought up in, he can be moulded by his immediate associations to make the right choices when confronted by situations that might challenge his morals.

“Right and wrong should be impacted at a very early age. And parents should take time and talk to their children to try and understand what they are going through. Some of these behaviours might just be cries for attention from the child,” Mbataru said.

As a nation’s collective shock, feigned or real, thaws away, the reality is that parents ought to get back to knowing the lives their children are living.

“An easier option would be to blame the teachers and the society while the genesis of this problem lies between the four walls of our homes,” Ouko said.

Poor relationships

Musau Ndunda, executive secretary of the Kenya National Association of Parents says the problem lies with school administrators.

“Most school heads have poor relationships with everyone. They are at war with their staff, parents and even with the students. They leave no room for any of these groups to air their grievances. The end result is the kind of unrest currently being seen,” Ndunda said.

However, some of these incidences occur outside the confines of the school. Are school administrators still to blame?

“The parents are also a factor. However a bulk of the blame should be shouldered by the school administrators. As parents, we entrust the lives and well-being of our students into their hands. If they are unable to groom our children into respectable members of the society, then we have a problem,” he said.

The experts say we already have a problem. And it has been with us for decades. What needs to be found now is a solution, or a string of solutions.

“One arm of which is better parenting. We cannot afford to abdicate our duties as responsible parents any more. If we let other people raise our children, then they will consume themselves,” Ndunda added.