Thoughts on school violence

This is an emotional article for me to write. 

It is about school violence and corporal punishment, and it's based on an incident I witnessed in one of the schools I work with. My point is not to write a weeping, demoralising article, rather  to raise awareness and reflection on a very real societal issue here in Kenya. That is why I chose to describe the scene as vividly as I lived it. I hope it will be understood that way. 

The incident:

On Monday, October 8^th, I was working with a class 7 on HIV/AIDS prevention. Classrooms don’t have doors, so you can hear and see what’s happening outside. As I was discussing the topic with my students, I started hearing strange sounds outside. At first I thought it was someone cutting grass with a whip as they do here, but then I heard whimpering as well. It took me a few second to realize someone was being beaten. I ran outside to see what was happening, and I stumbled upon a surreal, hellish scene. A male teacher was frantically beating with a whip a female student, who was on the floor, whimpering and crying, her legs bloodied, trying to protect herself with her arms and crawling away from her molester. Around them, some teachers were just sitting and looking at the scene without moving a finger. The scene was so violent yet so casual, it was unbelievable. 

I would love to say that I had the best, poised, diplomatic and constructive reaction possible. I didn’t. I completely lost it, angry out of my mind. My body was shaking, I could barely breath and my jaw was clenched. I started yelling at him to stop and to get away from the girl. I tried to go towards him, but some teachers held me back saying that “he was too emotional, out of control, and there was nothing to do and that he could hurt me too”. I was so out of control myself that I started shouting any threat that would come to my mind (which was of course not the right behavior and I apologized later). Eventually the teacher stopped as the school deputy told him to back off. 

The scene didn’t end there; as soon as the teacher stopped, an old woman grabbed the whip from him and started hitting the girl again while shouting and crying. It turned out to be the girl’s mother, who was at the origin of the dispute as she was angry at her daughter for her behavior at home. 

The teachers and the deputy, taking seriously my anger at that point, took the whip from the mother, and sent back the girl to class. The incident was over. It only lasted for a few minutes but it seemed like eternity to me.

I was so shaken that I returned to my class because I couldn’t think straight and didn’t know what to do. I told the deputy that we needed to talk about the scene after school. 

Once back in my class, my super smart and brave students asked me if I was ok, and I decided to change topic. I discussed with them corporal punishment and violence at school. The discussion was interesting and heartbreaking; most children had suffered violence at school or at home, it is part of their life. When I explained to them, over and over, that they had fundamental rights, that it was absolutely intolerable and illegal to beat a child (or any vulnerable human being), they asked me if I could also say it to the teachers because there was nothing they could do about it… 

I wish with all my heart that it weren’t true, that they can stand up to their molesters, being family members, teachers, or strangers. But they can’t, they are only children and have no voice. And the ones that are supposed to stand up for them are the ones hurting them in the first place. 

The aftermath of the incident was somehow a more positive outcome. The school headmaster decided to send the teacher to the school committee board in order to be sanctioned. The board decided to investigate the case and punish the teacher accordingly. The school’s headmaster and deputy also came to our home, to present their apologies and to let me know the steps being taken for sanction. They did try to present a distorted version of the incident (the girl attacked her own mother so the teacher was trying to protect the mother…), but as soon as they realized I would not back up such story they retracted, saying it was only the defense of the teacher, not the official version nor the truth. The deputy supported the girl’s and my version.

The decision is being processed at the moment. The girl was doing better a few days later, although she was not feeling comfortable discussing the incident too much.

Although I know that this sanction is not necessarily the result of a full understanding of the gravity of the act, rather than the fact that it was witnessed by a “visitor”, if this teacher gets suspended and can’t hurt anymore students, it’s still a win. 

The reflection: 

Although corporal punishment is illegal in Kenya, it is still frequent and completely accepted in schools. Children get caned and beaten for poor grades, missing school, or graver issues; they get beaten at home for not finishing chores, or being disobedient. 

Don’t get me wrong, not everyone is a child molestor. Children are overall loved, fed, taken care of. 

 The idea of childhood and child protection is just extremely different from what we know.

Most teachers are aware that beating a child is unacceptable, and illegal since 2011. They know it as principle brought from other horizons or as theoretical regulation, but they don’t believe it themselves (especially older generations). Not because they are horrible child molesters, but because it is so anchored in their society, in their customs, that it is unthinkable that there could be other ways. They were beaten at school, and now they are functioning adults. What could be wrong with the system? And when you try to use the argument of law, they laugh at your face, because it is anyhow never enforced. 

Because of that, talking openly about it as a Mzungu (white person) who knows nothing of Kenyan ways and therefore cannot understand, is quite complicated. I am still in the process of figuring out how to efficiently communicate with teachers and reach them on this subject. Most of the time, I come across arguments like “you don’t understand, African children are not like European children, they only understand the beating” or “our teachers did it to us so it’s only normal we do it to them”. Those arguments are so strongly believed by local communities, it is hard to do debunk them, especially thinking as a European. And why would they believe you? Have you ever taught in a classroom with 90 students, with no means, with old-school methodologies that do not engage students and lead to classroom disruption? These are the points, among others, that teachers raise when we talk about corporal punishment. Most of the time they will argue that it is the only thing that works with lazy, refractory students. That they may have tried other means, but it just doesn’t work because students don’t take them seriously otherwise. And when you explain that yes, every change needs a transition period, which will be difficult and complicated but necessary and beneficial on the long term, they tell you that it’s all very nice, but they care more about their ongoing classes and upcoming exams results, than about long term changes and students wellbeing. 

Being preoccupied about the immediate present rather than the long-term future is a universal thought, is it not?

Here it is; some of the reasons why it is so intricate and complicated, at a smaller scale, to change livelihoods and mentalities. 

I believe the best way to change minds and habits is education, but what to do when the key holders of education are the ones that need to be educated in the first place? 

Where do you start, and how much can you bring of your own culture to mitigate with those customs? 

The frustration from not having that answer is sometimes heavy. The other frustration is knowing that being here for 6 months, I don’t have the time to have the impact I wish I had.

I can only remember that others before me have been advocating and teaching, and others after me will continue to reinforce this knowledge and understanding. There are already changes happening from within, from parents bringing their children’s corporal punishment cases forward to amazing local initiatives fighting against school-based violence through awareness-raising campaigns and prevention talks, one classroom at a time. No matter what there is always hope, hope that one day new disciplinary methods will be implemented in schools and homes, hope for a brighter future for those children, hope that all schools become a safe learning environment where students can thrive and become better adults. 

Bright students, rising stars

Class 6, Mukambi Primary School