What will idle, tired children do in January?

For the first time in a long time, school-going children will have an extended vacation that will spill into January.

The additional days at home are a respite for many learners. After all, the extended rest comes at the back of condensed learning with brief breaks following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic that disrupted normal life.

Before the epidemic, learners traditionally enjoyed a three-week holiday in the first and second terms while third term and about five weeks in the third term.

Apart from being barred from engaging in co-curriculum activities like sports, music and drama festivals, the pandemic denied learners adequate rest time. The bad experience is thankfully now behind us as normalcy sets in.

Thus, schools will revert to the normal calendar starting in January though learners will remain at home for the better part of the month.

Karen Kamau, a Tassia Primary School pupil, says she is comfortable with the long stay at home since it has accorded her the opportunity to engage in leisure activities, which she missed while in school.

"Our church has planned several executions which have kept us busy. We engage in sports and talks during the week while we go for executions on weekends,'' she said.

Time to relax

Other learners we spoke to expressed similar sentiments, saying they will have more time to relax, reflect and bond with family members.

Drawing experience from the past, experts and parents are however concerned that the long holiday has come with challenges - like children struggling to cope when schools re-open, and the extra costs of maintaining them at home.

Adjusting to school life will be a headache for many of the learners accustomed to life at home. According to Dr Kirimi Arimi, a clinical and counselling psychologist expert, the children will require thorough debriefing as they prepare to resume classes.

"It may appear to be a simple transition, but there could be some likelihood that the change could be resisted especially by those who already got favourable moments from the new order. Others may develop some adjustment problems due to long exposure to luxury, only to suddenly find themselves under school rules and very demanding routines," says the lecturer.

Further, Kirimi believes that once schools resume, children in primary schools will experience a great loss in parental attachment and friends while at home.

"The parents have to debrief them and interview them to know their level of preparedness for school and how they would get back to their old friends in school and resume learning and interactions with their teachers. To them, they grieve a real loss of their free time and interaction with friends," observes the don.

Tough times

Parents already facing economic burdens are either digging deeper into their pockets or accruing more debts to cater for the upkeep of their children on long recess. But for most parents, the bigger headache is how to keep their children busy and focused.

One such parent feeling the pinch is Everline Akinyi. Based in Kisumu County, Akinyi is the mother of three primary school-going children. To keep her kids off bad habits, Akinyi is funding their private tuition.

"We are digging deeper into our pockets to facilitate our children's tuition to ensure they catch up and even be ahead of the syllabus like those studying in private schools," says Akinyi, adding that more money is spent on food unlike when the children are in school.

John Misiko, the head teacher at Rockfield's Junior School, says his school has made plans to send homework to learners through their parents.

"We have kept our learners busy during this long holiday because we don't want them to lose track of what they have done. We have to shepherd them through the festive season away from school," stated Misiko.

Even as learners, experts, parents and teachers expressed mixed feelings, more worrying is the reality that the extended stay at home might result in early pregnancies, addiction to drugs, early marriages, school dropouts, child labour and withdrawal symptoms.

"We expect that teachers will communicate optimism about the change. This situation to some extent may have interfered with the excitement of the learners and as such, they had more to worry about the unknown than the luxury and relaxation that comes with the holiday. Parents should not sit and imagine that the psychological weight is just normal to these kids," says Dr Arimi.

Social media challenges

Dr Jennifer Birech thinks socialisation plays a key role in how kids behave, conduct themselves and are influenced. According to the sociologist, some children can remain steadfast amid temptations, exposure to social media and life challenges.

"I don't want to sound like the prophet of doom regarding the long holiday since it all depends on discipline and socialization of individual children, and families socialize differently. Unless there are compelling reasons, I refuse to subscribe to the notion that the children will be influenced negatively," says the university lecturer, adding that parents need to closely monitor their children.

With a lot of time on their hands, there is no denying that some of these teenagers will engage in unprotected sex. Most of them are adolescents, the transition stage is usually marked by rapid physical and emotional changes. At this stage, girls and boys, are usually tempted into sexual exploration due to peer pressure.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, there was a spike in pregnancies among school-going children across the country.

A report released last year showed a significant number of girls aged between 15 and 19 years were either pregnant or had a baby during the lockdown.

The research by Presidential Policy and Strategy Unit (PASU) showed that Kisumu County had the highest number of pregnancies at 13 per cent, followed by Nairobi and Kilifi counties, which recorded 11 per cent each while 9 per cent of girls within the 15-19 age bracket were pregnant.

The respondents identified factors that fostered sexual activity as idleness, lack of money in households, peer pressure, exposure to violence and difficulty accessing family planning services.

National Parents Association chairman Silas Obuhatsa says girls from marginalised areas are at high risk of getting pregnant.

"They are the ones involved in activities like going to the river or market that make them vulnerable," Obuhatsa noted.

Teenage pregnancies

Several interviewees were aware of a girl or girls who were pregnant during the Covid-19 period, and in some cases, they could also identify the boys or men who impregnated the girls.

"Almost all girls who got pregnant during the schools' closure period said that their pregnancies were not planned and expressed apprehension about the future of their education," said the report titled Promises to keep: Impact of Covid-19 on Adolescents in Kenya.

The research further found that those who lacked family and social support during pregnancy faced greater social and mental challenges.