A secondary school principal in Bomet county has said that pressures surrounding students is the major reason why they engage in serious riotous acts that have led to huge losses in schools around the country this year.
Mr. Alex Kimeli of St. Michael secondary school in Bomet town told the press that students were increasingly getting pressure like never before and can react foolishly to even mundane reasons.
“Recently we were talking with the principal of another school who told me two of his students had been napped by their colleagues attempting to burn a dormitory, but when he tried to counsel them on what they were going through. One of them told him that he was no longer interested in studies, he told his parents he wanted out, but they were insistent that he should complete his studies; he had to a find way so that the school could be closed.” He said.
The principal added that some students had lost hope and because of drug and substance abuse some retorted to unruly behavior to release pressure.
He also noted that due to pressures and many activities of life parents had somehow lost time to be constantly in close touch with their children and they were likely to be influenced more by their friends and peers than parental figures.
The emergence of digital connections and access to technology had also made students have a different perspective to discipline. Most students share destructive character traits over a short period of time and with access to fast information on what is happening in other schools through smart phones, they tend to negatively be motivated to do the same, the principal pointed out.
“Some of the techniques used by students to burn their school buildings is highly technical. A chemical is used and poured over electric fuses and after it corrodes the wires inside the fuse starts to burn causing a big fire.” He said adding that when a school is burned it is never an outside job because the chemicals can easily be found in school labs.
He noted that teachers should be vigilant in the labs to ensure that students do not sneak out with chemicals that can be used to start fires in school.
“We are still trying to figure out why students don’t seem to like peaceful ways of solving grievances and why strikes and rampages are on the rise, but we can generally say pressure and indiscipline are evident among students currently.” He said.
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