by Mumbi Muchira |
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INTRODUCTION
The state of non-violence in schools is violated when an atmosphere of unrest sets in schools. Usually, unrest in schools will take diverse forms like, "violent attacks by pupils on other pupils and even teachers, breaking school rules, chronic misbehaviour in classrooms, time wasting in lessons, challenge to the authority of teachers, disruption of pupils who are anxious to learn, stealing, truancy, untidiness in school work, dress and habits, late coming to school and lessons, lying, bullying, gross insurbodination, indecency, use of bad language."1
During the nineties, many schools from different parts of Kenya have experienced some if not all of the above cited forms of unrest leading to poor performance, since effective learning cannot take place in a state of unrest. A culture of violence which may be extended to adulthood develops in learners who are constantly involved in acts of violence in schools. Parents whose children are involved in indisciplined activities loose a lot of time and money as they pursue the fate of their children who may be suspended or even expelled from school in cases of serious disciplinary activities. Members of the Board of Governors of a school and also Ministry of Education officials do spend a lot of time settling cases of indiscipline because most of them are complicated as they could arise because of many diverse factors. The security of the society can also be negatively affected because indisciplined learners who do not reform by the time they leave school can be easily recruited into criminal activities like car-jacking or various types of robberies which have of late become rampant in the country.
For the sake of well being of the learners, and in the long run, the society, it is important that violence in schools is minimized or stamped out altogether. However, the culture of school unrest which can be divided into two broad types must be well understood for violent in schools to be dwelt with effectively.
Mass unrest
Mass unrest maybe violent where unwonted destruction of school property takes place or the unrest may take the form of a sit in when students peacefully refuse to be taught or to eat school food. At times, learners match peacefully from school to Ministry of Education headquarters, to a Provincial Education office or even to Province administration offices in a bid to communicate their grievances to people other than their school administration. The form mass indiscipline takes depends very much on the nature of students organizing the unrest. Students who are already involved in individualized indiscipline are already very stressed. Their thoughts, feelings and actions are therefore likely to take a violent trend. Learners under the influence of hard drugs which give rise to a spirit of combativeness and lack of reasoning will also handle a situation violently. However when mass unrest is organized by learners who are not involved in other indiscipline activities, learners who just wish to communicate their grievances, the unrest usually takes a non violent form.
Mass unrest in schools whether it takes a violent or a non-violent form is a reflection of a breakdown of trust between the learners and the school administration. The unrest is usually a climax of some grievances that must have been affecting the learners for some time. The learners must have communicated the grievances to the school administration in a school where a form of communication between the learners and the administration has been established. Eventually, the learners become saturated with the unresolved grievances. They become tense and stress builds up. When tension becomes very intense something seemingly very trivial like badly cooked food, burnt porridge, refusal to participate in an activity outside school or even a transfer of one of the teachers triggers the learners to indulge themselves in mass unrest.
Most often, the trigger of a mass unrest is confused with the real cause of the indisciplined act. A series of other mass unrest may therefore follow because of failure to diagnose the root cause of the unrest and to deal with it effectively as Griffin states, "Should an instance of mass indiscipline occur, the wise Head will resist the temptation to find a scapegoat be it the Ministry, The Board of Governors, Politicians, Parents or general decline in the conduct of the youth but will instead take a long hard look on his own methods."2
Individualised unrest
Research findings have shown that pupils who fall victim of some indisciplined behaviour do so because of some personality deficiencies which is a reflection of ineffective socialisation particularly at puberty stage. Violent attacks on others and challenge to authority is most likely a result of lack of in-built disciplined traits in the learners because the parents did not instill a culture of discipline at the tender age of childhood, for according to Njoya, the parent mediates security, health, justice, order, knowledge, affection and peace. "When the child enjoys justice and respect in the family he extends this joy to others in the community."3 So in homes where there is a lot of violence between spouses or where parents correct their children through harsh punishment like beating or where parents are constantly absent from home, a sense of insecurity and lack of self esteem develops in the children. Self esteem can also be destroyed during puberty stage if the young people are not fully explained about the physical and psychological changes taking place in their bodies. They therefore live with shame regarding the unexplained conflicts in themselves. Lack of clear mission and vision in life also gives rise to conflicts in oneself particularly if a learner is not very good academically. This can bring about a build up of tension in learners that they may tend to release through violent activities.
Some teachers may promote indisciplined activities by over-stretching the learners intellectually particularly if the learners are made to remain in class well after school hours such that the learners become fatigued. In some cases individual needs of learners are not addressed which may make the learners frustrated and may express their frustrations through acts of violence. Drug abuse alters the feelings and emotions of learners who take drugs causing physical discomfort, restlessness, lack of sleep, anxiety and impaired judgement which can result in breaking of school rules and regulations.
The commonest breach of school rules is truancy. This could be a result of laxity on implementation of school rules, lack of supervision on the movement of learners to and from school. The learners could also fall into the trap of drug traffickers or other illegal businesses that entice them to be out of school frequently. All the same school rules should be clear and not too cumbersome to be followed. Rules which are vague or too many are bound to be and can be easily broken.
Learners are part and parcel of the society. A society which is dominated by acts of violence endangers the youth into assimilating violent tendencies to the detriment of their life in school. Mass media can also expose the youth to a culture of violence. There is therefore need to limit the number of the violent movies and T.V. programmes which the youth watch.
Undirected energy particularly in schools where co-curricula activities are minimal or in residential areas where amenities for leisure are non-existent can lead to build up of tension which may be released through violent activities at school.
Cultivating nonviolence in Schools
It is evident that violence in schools is not a phenomena which just occurs abruptly, but is the product of the same total of everything which will have happened to the learners from childhood to the day of the unrest, as is stated by Vanzart, "The stress began the day you learned you were expected to please other people. Parents wanted you to stay clean and quiet. Neighbours wanted you to be respectful and helpful. Teachers wanted you to be attentive and alert. Friends wanted you to share and hang out. Whenever you failed to do exactly what someone expected of you, you were not good, or good enough, you were too bad, weak or dumb."4 Non-violence atmosphere in schools therefore rests on learners. They must understand and respect their individuality. That way, they will manage to face each happening in a mature manner and avoid acting on peer pressure influence for as Njoya states, "It is our ability to organize and manage ourselves in relation to the world that gives us the meaning and purpose of living, that is, human dignity."5 The parents, the teachers and the society at large have their role to play in moulding non-violent youth who will in turn lead peaceful lives in schools. "The parents and teachers become the first engineers of a child behaviour and harness it and make it disciplined. Every energy in a child is latent material for forming human dignity. The child is disciplined by having his heart or soul reduced to the size of others in society, having his ego measured by that of his parents and neighbours."6
NOTES
1. J. S. Farrant. Principles and practice of education. New ed., 1980, p. 197
2. Geoffrey Griffin. School mastery, straight talk about boarding school management in Kenya, Nairobi: Lectern Publications, 1994, p. 22.
3. Timothy M. Njoya. Human dignity and natural identity, essentials for social ethics, 1980, p. 79.
4. Iyanla Vanzant. Acts of faith: daily meditations for people of color. New York: Simon & Schuster, January 1.
5. Njoya. op. cit., p. 76.
6. Ibid., p. 95.
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