Many schools are fertile grounds for mental health disorders

Children need our guidance, understanding, and a safe space in which to express themselves without condemnation and fear. [iStockphoto]

Something is rapidly fracturing in the mental health of our children, teachers, and other staff members in our schools which has been brought forcefully to the fore with the deaths - reportedly by suicide - of at least three students in different schools across the country this September.

One was a 17-year-old high school girl in Nakuru County after she was ordered to shave off her hair. Then there was a 14-year-old primary school pupil in Kericho County who died by suicide after an argument with his teacher for "changing his desk with another student's" without permission and for which his father said he was also severely beaten.