On Schools Unrest: Expert Opinion

Aviator

Elder Lister
By lukoya w'watoli

You asked for expert opinions on why our children in (boarding) schools are acting out violently.

We have now reviewed the situation, and had a few (non-random) conversations with some of these children and adolescents.

The reasons for the unrest are:

- the (fast-growing) children are not getting enough food. They are constantly hungry. And irritable. And unable to learn effectively.

- the children (in some schools) are being physically assaulted and bullied by teachers and prefects. They are constantly anxious, not knowing what they will do next to provoke a beating. The stronger, bigger ones are recruited into the beating gangs, and the smaller weaker ones are more likely to suffer beatings more often.

- the children are not getting sufficient sleep. Some are being sent to bed at 11pm and woken up at 4am. Most need 8-10 hours of sleep a day, as anyone who is raising adolescents will tell you. It’s not laziness. It’s biology. Sleep deprivation interferes with learning (memory consolidation happens while you sleep, for instance), makes them lethargic and irritable, and may trigger mental illnesses in vulnerable children. Remember that 50% of all cases of mental illness start before the age of 15, and 75% before the age of 25.

- the children are being made to imbibe a whole year’s academic content in less than six months. Marathon. They feel inadequate, tired, uncertain of their performance (targets often shifting arbitrarily without consultation), and demotivated.

- many teachers are frustrated with their employers for one reason or another, and might be (unconsciously) projecting their frustration and anger on the learners. This makes the teacher-student relationship poor, interfering with teaching and learning.

These are the most commonly observed causes for the unrest.

Having read these, I’m sure you can quickly figure out what the solutions should be. Just pick each of those issues and correct them.

Oh, but you can’t do that because of budgetary constraints, right? And the cane is cheaper than food, sleep time, violence elimination, curriculum revision, and proper attention to teacher welfare, right?

As you were, Kenyans. As you were.
 

The.Black.Templar

Elder Lister
Staff member
I fully agree with those opinions....especially now they are saying 100% transition but on the same budget as before, overpopulation and food issues will definitely become a problem
 

Denis Young

Elder Lister
Well done for this. It is honestly that easy but who wants to listen to the students. After all they are all will animals that need to be tamed.
 

Mtumsafi

Elder Lister
Well put. It's not rocket science really. Especially that bit of frustrated teachers, I remember last year teachers of a popular school in utawala demonstrating for non payment of salary despite offering e learning. How would you expect such a teacher to give their all?
 

bigDog

Elder Lister
By lukoya w'watoli

You asked for expert opinions on why our children in (boarding) schools are acting out violently.

We have now reviewed the situation, and had a few (non-random) conversations with some of these children and adolescents.

The reasons for the unrest are:

- the (fast-growing) children are not getting enough food. They are constantly hungry. And irritable. And unable to learn effectively.

- the children (in some schools) are being physically assaulted and bullied by teachers and prefects. They are constantly anxious, not knowing what they will do next to provoke a beating. The stronger, bigger ones are recruited into the beating gangs, and the smaller weaker ones are more likely to suffer beatings more often.

- the children are not getting sufficient sleep. Some are being sent to bed at 11pm and woken up at 4am. Most need 8-10 hours of sleep a day, as anyone who is raising adolescents will tell you. It’s not laziness. It’s biology. Sleep deprivation interferes with learning (memory consolidation happens while you sleep, for instance), makes them lethargic and irritable, and may trigger mental illnesses in vulnerable children. Remember that 50% of all cases of mental illness start before the age of 15, and 75% before the age of 25.

- the children are being made to imbibe a whole year’s academic content in less than six months. Marathon. They feel inadequate, tired, uncertain of their performance (targets often shifting arbitrarily without consultation), and demotivated.

- many teachers are frustrated with their employers for one reason or another, and might be (unconsciously) projecting their frustration and anger on the learners. This makes the teacher-student relationship poor, interfering with teaching and learning.

These are the most commonly observed causes for the unrest.

Having read these, I’m sure you can quickly figure out what the solutions should be. Just pick each of those issues and correct them.

Oh, but you can’t do that because of budgetary constraints, right? And the cane is cheaper than food, sleep time, violence elimination, curriculum revision, and proper attention to teacher welfare, right?

As you were, Kenyans. As you were.
Those problems can be solved easily:

1. Standard menus and portions. Lakini shida ni wizi pia. Cooks in my former school used to steal supplies. The headmaster was a thief too.
2. Every learner should get a minimum of 7 to 8 hrs of sleep (9 pm to 6 am). Hiyo kusema at kulala ni lazyness is ignorance.
3.....
 
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