For a long time, women have perfected the art of carrying perfumes and ointments in their bags.
That is why I became curious when I spotted a couple of teenage secondary school boys from several schools in Kiambu carrying bottles of perfume in their bags to diffuse the smell of bhang in their classroom.
Out of curiosity, one teenager confirmed that in their class of 45 students, only 2 of them were non smokers - a situation replicated in most schools in the area.
The situation is so dire to a point that the student even smokes in their classrooms and perfume the air to diffuse the smell.
When the teacher is explaining a point, the students are busy with their 'kubel', staring at the universe, seeing and hearing nothing while the blame for poor results rest squarely on their teachers.
Where blaming the teachers is not tenable, the student can always count on the Kenyan concept of “strike and burn”.
Teacher’s motivation for academic excellence has since waned because of the constant blame and the never ending unresolved indiscipline cases among the students.
In most schools, teacher work like robots with their eyes closed because after all, it’s all about money and the student will always take their indiscipline home to their parents.
Legal and social environment has largely tilted toward the students making them stronger and powerful and weakening the teachers dramatically.
The government has given students rights that they do not deserve; they have a right to even choose their class representatives!
For heaven sake, how do you expect a student who reports indisciplined peers to be appointed by fellow students? They will only elect one of their own to cater for their interests.
Most parents have brought up their children using kid’s gloves and they have shown them that teachers are nothing and that’s why a parent cannot even feel a shade of shame insulting and demeaning a teacher in front of the child.
Gone are the days when teachers main worry emanating from their students, was the occasional afternoon nap due to a plateful of githeri albeit invaded by weevils, dilated eyes as the students imagined about the opposite sex which was a healthy sign of growth as the body did its biological somersaults.
Nowadays, we are seeing pictures of students caning their teachers and their parents cheering them on.
The country and relevant stakeholders have long ignored the tell tale signs of danger and if something is not going to be done now, the country must be prepared to perish together.
Going by the current state of affairs, Nacada has been doing nothing, is doing nothing and will do nothing in the near future.
Kenyans vividly remember news line like 45 students arrested on their way from Nyeri, 500 students and teenagers arrested in Eldoret, 200 students arrested in Nairobi and all of them had something in common, “they were arrested smoking bhang, drinking alcohol, and engaging in intimate marathons” hyping of parties like “nobody returns home a virgin in mainstream media and social media” and pornography that is easily accessible.
Smartphone’s have only served in adding fire to the embers since bad news attracts and sells.
The pronged fight between the state, parents and children rights lobby group on one side and the teachers on the other side has turned the student into a “swara” (young girls who are given to the enemy to appease them and create a bridge of friendship between the antagonizing parties) where the student has become the focal point of appeasement at the expense of developing them to become responsible members of the society.
There is an urgent need for all the stakeholders to sit down and ask themselves these questions, why are the students doing what they are doing?
What is their motivation? What could be their main problem? Are they trying to send a certain message to the society? The state, parents, children rights lobby groups, teachers and all the relevant stakeholders should break from their own shells in order to accommodate the teenagers and our students.
Time when young people were told to wait for their time is long gone. Give them your ears, listen to their ideologies, their thinking and perspectives, stop giving them answers and be the answer that they can emulate and above all conquer their facts with your facts and listen to them or else we will perish together!
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