of love, life and living it up
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
on drugs? please!
in form one, the only term that i spent uninterrupted was the second term, which was usually the longest, coldest and most dreary in boarding school. only those who took cold showers in the middle of july, waited in vain for clothes to dry in the midst of the infamous limuru fog and mist and had those countdowns to closing day can understand how much you just wanted it to be over already. i personally had a countdown that usually started during exam time that tabulated how many more cold showers i had to take, how many more shirts and socks and whatnot i needed to wash and how many slices of stale bread/plates of murram (githeri)/rock hard "cupcakes" i had to endure before i went home. in the third term of form one there was that national teachers strike that sent everyone in a public school home (bliss i tell you, considering how short third term is) and in first term we had our own strike.
can you imagine, after less than two months of the continous hazing that bored form three's and four's (and form two's out for revenge) carried out out of reverence for "school traditions" we woke up one morning and heard rumours that the form fours had stormed out of the school. so the deputy head convened a meeting in the school hall to calm us down and tell us that there was no reason to panic because the school bus had already gone to fetch the runaways from nation centre (by the way, what was with the whole going to nation centre thing that was popular back then?) where they had gone to demonstrate.
the meeting was a disaster from an administrative point of view - the teachers were booed and hissed at, plastic plates and spoons were thrown and every 5 minutes some group or another would break into song. now, us form ones were basically huddled in a corner (we operated on the rule that there is safety in numbers) and after a few minutes of confusion a girl came up to us and barked "ebu sing" and immediately we joined in the aloya sisi sumu, aloya! chorus because after all, these were girls who would play "10 (or more) green rabbles standing by the pool" when said rabbles were in full school uniform for fun, these were not people you wanted to agitate. think of the song "ten green bottles" and you'll understand the general gist of the game. but i digress.
we (the "we" being students who patrolled the corridors with hockey sticks to make sure no one was violating the srike) refused to go to class, the girls were brought back and the next day, we were all suspended and given half an hour to get off school property or else. the "or else" was a bunch of administrative policemen standing around which to this day i think was a bit much - it was an all girls' school after all. where the drama began was when they carried out the investigations after we came back.
it was then that all the pettiness of idle high school teachers was out in full force. if your hairstyle was not a "push back" with plain black hairbands you were showing signs of having a bad attitude and you were punished. teachers stood in corridors to comb out any visible curls and confiscate earrings that were too flashy (goodness, even then i remember wondering whether these people had nothing better to do). the girls who had been featured in the nine o'clock news that day were ordered to dig four by four by four holes which they then had to fill up again. and on and on goes on the tale, all because we had to be taught a lesson.
when the B.O.G (board of governors) met with the parents, they then said that they couldn't understand why in the world the students had gone on strike. backed up by the teachers, they then concluded that the cause was drugs, parents should be more vigilant about their children's spending habits and behaviours blah blah blah. total and utter nonesense if you ask me. for one, there never was that much weed doing the rounds in school and i have it on good authority that the known stoneheads had much better things to do with their time than go waste a perfectly good high out in the cold in the middle of the night marching to the nearest shopping centre to wait for matatus to town.
my high school career was one that had countless strikes nation wide, more so in central province. apparently, there was "strike fever" and we apparently got ours from a boys' school that was notorious for such like behaviour. they were duly banned from all in house school activities. not that it mattered, all sports, clubs and outings came to a halt for six moths after the strike. then there was the sad instance in which prefects were burnt to death in nyeri and the "they must be on drugs' mantra was even louder. alcohol to a certain extent, but most definately drugs. there were reports of alleged high handedness and poor diet in the newspapers but the administration was usually faultless. it was those big headed, incorrigible students with access to drugs that were to blame and there was nothing else to it. really?
surely it couldn't have been because the students felt that they had no other outlet to air their problems and concerns. nope, it was the drugs. maybe the teachers are vindictive and high handed? drugs, and some of them drank too. blah, blah, blah? i tell you, they are all high! am i the only one who sees something wrong with this picture?
don't get me wrong, i'm not for riots and destruction of property and in some cases, the loss of life that occurs. especially those that occur because there is a power blackout and university students decide to cause mayhem because they can't watch their football. or those that are instigated by those who do not want to sit exams and other silly reasons. but i do refuse to over simplify by agreeing that all strikes, especially those at the high school level are as a direct result of drugs and sometimes a combination of drugs and alcohol.
life in most boarding schools is stressing enough as it is. when you further agitate students, it doesn't take much to convince them that marching out of the school in protest is the only way to be heard. don't believe me? you try taking away the privileges like outings and club activities from students and see what happens. let them not watch t.v, tell them that the 28 slices of mouldy bread that they recieve per week will be down to 14. make a bad diet even worse (if that's possible) and then go on and decrease the amount of the bad food. decide that prep-time that usually lasts 1.5 hours in the morning and 2.5 hours at night is not enough and add an hour to each session thus ensuring that they have to wake up earlier, sleep later and have less free time. add in a couple of incidences of high handed teachers with free reign to open letters and deem them distractions and other like instances, an administration that has no forum for students to freely air their grievances and you have a situation that's just begging for a group of charismatic students round up their comrades and declare that they are going on strike. pretty easy, when you consider that there are not that many distractions in boarding school. when the story hits the news, everyone tsks tsks and asks why students would riot over food and refuse to further their education by agreeing to more prep.
i read this sad story and saw that they are using the same worn route of investigating the use of drugs and the school principal denying any knowledge of problems in the school. i highly doubt that is the case. i can almost see the anti drug organisations itching to add this to their statistics of 'another case of drug use gone bad'.
maybe if more attention was paid to the relationship between the administration and the students there would be no walk outs and strikes leading to disasastrous results. it is a well known fact that schol that facilitate forums in which students are able to air their views do not have to deal with disgruntled students going to nation centre or rioting on school property. why some schools are still run without certain factors taken into consideration is beyond me. it may be time to consider that the structure upon which such institutions is built is quite outdated and only causes more harm than good.
can you imagine, after less than two months of the continous hazing that bored form three's and four's (and form two's out for revenge) carried out out of reverence for "school traditions" we woke up one morning and heard rumours that the form fours had stormed out of the school. so the deputy head convened a meeting in the school hall to calm us down and tell us that there was no reason to panic because the school bus had already gone to fetch the runaways from nation centre (by the way, what was with the whole going to nation centre thing that was popular back then?) where they had gone to demonstrate.
the meeting was a disaster from an administrative point of view - the teachers were booed and hissed at, plastic plates and spoons were thrown and every 5 minutes some group or another would break into song. now, us form ones were basically huddled in a corner (we operated on the rule that there is safety in numbers) and after a few minutes of confusion a girl came up to us and barked "ebu sing" and immediately we joined in the aloya sisi sumu, aloya! chorus because after all, these were girls who would play "10 (or more) green rabbles standing by the pool" when said rabbles were in full school uniform for fun, these were not people you wanted to agitate. think of the song "ten green bottles" and you'll understand the general gist of the game. but i digress.
we (the "we" being students who patrolled the corridors with hockey sticks to make sure no one was violating the srike) refused to go to class, the girls were brought back and the next day, we were all suspended and given half an hour to get off school property or else. the "or else" was a bunch of administrative policemen standing around which to this day i think was a bit much - it was an all girls' school after all. where the drama began was when they carried out the investigations after we came back.
it was then that all the pettiness of idle high school teachers was out in full force. if your hairstyle was not a "push back" with plain black hairbands you were showing signs of having a bad attitude and you were punished. teachers stood in corridors to comb out any visible curls and confiscate earrings that were too flashy (goodness, even then i remember wondering whether these people had nothing better to do). the girls who had been featured in the nine o'clock news that day were ordered to dig four by four by four holes which they then had to fill up again. and on and on goes on the tale, all because we had to be taught a lesson.
when the B.O.G (board of governors) met with the parents, they then said that they couldn't understand why in the world the students had gone on strike. backed up by the teachers, they then concluded that the cause was drugs, parents should be more vigilant about their children's spending habits and behaviours blah blah blah. total and utter nonesense if you ask me. for one, there never was that much weed doing the rounds in school and i have it on good authority that the known stoneheads had much better things to do with their time than go waste a perfectly good high out in the cold in the middle of the night marching to the nearest shopping centre to wait for matatus to town.
my high school career was one that had countless strikes nation wide, more so in central province. apparently, there was "strike fever" and we apparently got ours from a boys' school that was notorious for such like behaviour. they were duly banned from all in house school activities. not that it mattered, all sports, clubs and outings came to a halt for six moths after the strike. then there was the sad instance in which prefects were burnt to death in nyeri and the "they must be on drugs' mantra was even louder. alcohol to a certain extent, but most definately drugs. there were reports of alleged high handedness and poor diet in the newspapers but the administration was usually faultless. it was those big headed, incorrigible students with access to drugs that were to blame and there was nothing else to it. really?
surely it couldn't have been because the students felt that they had no other outlet to air their problems and concerns. nope, it was the drugs. maybe the teachers are vindictive and high handed? drugs, and some of them drank too. blah, blah, blah? i tell you, they are all high! am i the only one who sees something wrong with this picture?
don't get me wrong, i'm not for riots and destruction of property and in some cases, the loss of life that occurs. especially those that occur because there is a power blackout and university students decide to cause mayhem because they can't watch their football. or those that are instigated by those who do not want to sit exams and other silly reasons. but i do refuse to over simplify by agreeing that all strikes, especially those at the high school level are as a direct result of drugs and sometimes a combination of drugs and alcohol.
life in most boarding schools is stressing enough as it is. when you further agitate students, it doesn't take much to convince them that marching out of the school in protest is the only way to be heard. don't believe me? you try taking away the privileges like outings and club activities from students and see what happens. let them not watch t.v, tell them that the 28 slices of mouldy bread that they recieve per week will be down to 14. make a bad diet even worse (if that's possible) and then go on and decrease the amount of the bad food. decide that prep-time that usually lasts 1.5 hours in the morning and 2.5 hours at night is not enough and add an hour to each session thus ensuring that they have to wake up earlier, sleep later and have less free time. add in a couple of incidences of high handed teachers with free reign to open letters and deem them distractions and other like instances, an administration that has no forum for students to freely air their grievances and you have a situation that's just begging for a group of charismatic students round up their comrades and declare that they are going on strike. pretty easy, when you consider that there are not that many distractions in boarding school. when the story hits the news, everyone tsks tsks and asks why students would riot over food and refuse to further their education by agreeing to more prep.
i read this sad story and saw that they are using the same worn route of investigating the use of drugs and the school principal denying any knowledge of problems in the school. i highly doubt that is the case. i can almost see the anti drug organisations itching to add this to their statistics of 'another case of drug use gone bad'.
maybe if more attention was paid to the relationship between the administration and the students there would be no walk outs and strikes leading to disasastrous results. it is a well known fact that schol that facilitate forums in which students are able to air their views do not have to deal with disgruntled students going to nation centre or rioting on school property. why some schools are still run without certain factors taken into consideration is beyond me. it may be time to consider that the structure upon which such institutions is built is quite outdated and only causes more harm than good.
24 Comments:
Hear Hear,
Definitely high handedness in kenyan boarding schools was something that was/is overlooked. Why lie, the walking to nation centre was ingrained in all striker's minds i wonder where that came from.
Am booking my place then will come laters gal
There are those who look back on school days with nostalgia and longing - the so called good old days. I do not - I try not to think of those days. Good post
@ kabinti
going to nation centre was almost like a rite of passage for strikers, it ensured you got your 15 minutes of fame
high handedness is a way of life i most public boarding schools - thank god i'm through!
@ nakeel
position #2 is officially yours, now hurry back.
@ uaridi
the first two years were horrific, but after that i found ways to enjoye myself thoroughly! maybe in another lifetime i can reminisce about the good old days, but i'm still bitter.
I do feel you on that post!I think drugs have been made a scapegoat for all that is wrong with high school admins in Kenya today!In fact it is noted that the schools where students have a say often do better then the ones where students are treated like prisoners!As for what happened to those girls it is so shameful!BTW some of us are so old that in our school days their was no Nation centre!
hey habibi. dedly post. feel yiou on the scapegoat thing.admins have had and always will face problems with students as long as policy directly affecting them is implemented without any consultation.
PS hos did they really expect pple to pass with those starvation rations?
@ aco
that incident was truly a sad affair. i shudder to think what would have happened if the runaways during the strike in school had been subjected to the same. i tell you, we shall here more on this drugs issue soon.
no nation centre during your time? oh woe is you! :-D
@ girlie
that drugs line is so over used that i sometimes wonder why no one has called them out on it
@ mr. teddy
hey papi. that ideology of "because i said so" doesn't work and shouldn't be justified in the name of providing a good education.
starvation rations? lol, i can see that someone is still holding a grudge ...
Ha ha! we went on strike too when i was in form 2. It was hilarious!! We did the nation center thingi and then went home ati to 'wait until we are called back'.
I blame the paraffin they used to put in food.
spicey he wacha tu!
we had our first strike in high school when I was 2 weeks old in form one. I have never been so terrified in my entire life . In our era strikes were not that common so it really was something.
There is a drug problem in that age group lakini not so much in school. Those teachers are looking for scapegoats!
I remember those endless months of school teachers' strike going hand in hand with student chaos countrywide. Was a very tense period & I agree with you on the issue of teachers/adminstration improving their contact with students to ease the tension.
I couldn't miss this which made my day Spicebear:)
... stoneheads had much better things to do with their time than go waste a perfectly good high out in the cold
Hapo umepata kabisa, now make a documentary about this:)
@ kelitu
it might have been the paraffin ... there have been no studies done on its effects on idle teenagers!
@ prou
i agree with you on the drugs thing - the stoneheads were too few to cause any considerable damage.
@ akiey
documentary? lol akiey, will you edit it for me? then afterwards you can protect me from all those who will claim that i am condoning drug use in school ... :-D
Well....this surely brings back alot of memories.
It is a shame that the student-teacher relationship in our schools is non-existence. Especially when communicating with the teachers without the fear of being suspended or expelled. I just hope with time the situation changes.
Thanks for passing by....can't wait for your answers.
First time here. MMh good stuff there spicebear. Sure to be back.
Have a nice weekend.
And r u a real cuddly spicebear???
I have blogged a little on my school days in my first & second ever blogs. If you ever get a moment and want some interesting read check this out, titled chapter 1 & 2.
School was tough but also made us for those who did not succumb to the pressure. It was always survival for the fittest.
Later.
yeah ... high school was coooold!! I still can't believe I survived on cold showers in that weather ..
@ mocha
i hope the relations improve too - intimidation only works for so long. and i will do the tag thing soon, si i told you bout my chronic procastination ....
@ BJ
thanks for passing by, will be sure to check out your previous posts. and boarding for sure made a survivor out of many - i still need many years before i can talk bout the good old days. yeah i'm a cuddly spicebear, there's only one of my kind and i'm it!
@ mama mia
angalau during the cold months there should have been at least lukewarm water ... yeah right, that won't happen any time soon. catch e dead taking a cold shower nowadays, kwanza during winter, aui!
@ poi
funkies were the coolest! chances to run away into tao and whatnot. ah, cheap thrills!
Yes Spicebear, make that documentary & fear nothing, if they could make docu-movies like "Blow"(hope you've seen this legend of a movie, you've got to!), Requiem for A Dream(I give it 5 stars) & Gridlock'd (my fav for obvious reasons) then nothing should stop you.
Just have a disclaimer stating it's research & academic purposes:)
Hey Lady!
Strange how like the politics Kenyan attitudes towards teaching are based on some old guards prehistoric approach. Man, something's gotta give!
Aunty Mum
I believe our systems are built to weed out people in line with limited opportunities in the market. They demand conformists that are willing to toe the line and take orders.
Had we been teaching life skills, Im sure that the situation in schools would be different!
What does it help my life to know the date Speke landed in Kenya and "discovered" some obscure landform?
Doesn't add ugali or sukuma wiki to my plate but I had to cram it to make it through high school.
What we are witnessing is a growing rebellion against stifling of individuality and creativity.
The proverbial chickens are coming home to roost!
Bok bok bok, cock-a-doodle-doo!!!!
@ akiey
point taken. i shall be looking for sponsors and schools willing to let me shoot on school property and get candid interiews from students all in good time. also prepare myself psychologically for the hatemail that will follow :-D
@ stunuh
too right! these people are only applying practices that work in their favour i.e students are to be seen, pass exams for the school, and not heard, ever. i wonder how long its going to take before the system changes.
@ uncle dad
i can see we can add your voice to the cause. the problem with the education system in kenya is that it has a "get them through" mentality - let us get kcpe students through the national exam and hope for high marks so that we can be one of the top schools cited in the papers and oh yeah, that the kid can go to a good school. come secondary school, it's let them get through this so that our school average can be one of the highest and the student gets to go to a university if they have the reqiured points. then it's hurry up and graduate with honours or whatever and join the real world and then ... nothing. if more attention was paid to what the students were actually going to do with the information then we wouldn't have a scenario where students use a log book for mathematics despite the fact that they will never use one after that final exam. but i digress ...
stifling of self expression and creativity is most definately the issue here - most forget that the boarding school system as it is in Kenya was adopted from the days of colonialism and that there is need for change. sad thing is most people are only concerned about what number the school was nationally and not much else. tsk tsk .
OMG! This brings back SUCH memories of boarding school in Limuru! Thankfully though, none of the incidences you describe occurred at the school I attended (Tigoni Academy for Girls, not to be confused with Tigoni Girls Academy), but we did have our fair share of boarding school *ish that allows me to commiserate!
When all is said and done though, I wouldn't trade my Limuru days for the world!
Keep up the writing!
elle
@ TOBD (i hope that you don't mind me paraphrasing)
you went to TAG? cool! i was somewhere in the vicinity, freezing! linuru days were the best in some respects, but i am still bitter! thanks for passing by, feel free to do so whenever you want.
Pass by more often. I neve went to boarding school, but I have often thought that these are perfect exemlars of how we think about power, and hierarchy, and sexuality. From the evidence: we're pretty basic and need some help, no?
But thanks for this timely topic, and I hope it sheds lights into spaces that I already know are dark and shadowed.
@ wm
i hadn't looked at it form that perspective. interesting point of view. & thanks for stopping by and giving food for thought
@ poi
aww, such a sweetie. thanks!
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