Why Bullying In Secondary Schools Is Not About To End

As thousands of students prepare to join form one next week after successfully completing primary school education last year, top on their mind as they enter their new learning environment is the question of bullying and how it will affect them in the next few months.

Bullying is as old as education itself and the menace has been with us from time immemorial but it is encouraging to note that it has decreased over the years mainly due to government efforts to deal with it firmly.

In its worst form, bullying has resulted in serious physical injuries and at times in death to 'poor' form one students who's only crime was being a 'mono' or 'rubble' as they are called by their fellow students in higher classes.

The bullying culture has been worse in national schools over the years and this was as a result of the colonialists, who's children beat up African students who joined these institutions to show them that they were not equal and it was a big mistake for the Africans to join the national schools then dominated by Europeans.

A good case in point is Lenana school, formerly called The Duke of York School. When I joined the institution in 1983, bullying was part of life and a day hardly past without serious physical beatings from other students let alone prefects who had the powers to beat you up and then send you to the head teacher for further punishment.

The situation got so bad that at one time, a form five student assaulted me to the extent that I had to be admitted to hospital while the culprit continued with his studies unabated as if nothing had happened. At one point I was electrocuted using an electrical cable meant for an electrical kettle.

On seeing the school authorities were doing nothing much over the issue, my parents decided to press charges in court where the accused was found guilty but was let off with a light probation sentence by the corruption infested legal system of the day.

The following year, things changed dramatically as a new headmaster, one Mr Maneno was posted to the school and physical beatings almost ended overnight with those caught assaulting form one's being dealt with harshly. Many students were actually expelled.

To date, students at the school tell me that bullying still exists but in very mild form and physical beatings are a thing of the past. What is common is the ridiculing of the boys who are sometimes told to imitate some prominent female characters or instructed to polish the shoes of their 'superiors'.

For many, bullying is considered as a way of initiating form one's to the new life of secondary school and also transforming them from boys to men and this is one of the reasons why the menace will not go away in a long time.

Search engines can give you huge traffic. Here's how a Kenyan company can get thousands of visitors to their site daily.