The rise in cases of bullying and sexual scandals in boarding schools across the country has elicited a nationwide debate over who bears the blame for a child’s bad behaviour while in boarding. In this issue, Scholastica JOSEPH and Ijeoma UKAZU encountered some Nigerians who passed the bulk to the home from. Excepts:
MIKE ONAJI: For me, the issue of sexuality in boarding schools does not make negate the importance of the boarding system. I went to a boarding school and talking about homosexuality, there were times when senior students tried to molest the junior students. I remembered when I was in JSS 2, some group of boys were expelled from school because of that. My sisters also attended an all-girls boarding school and they told stories of girls molesting each other, practicing in lesbianism.
It has always been there but these things don’t make the system bad. There is a purpose of setting up a boarding system and I think it is achieving its aims. One of its major roles is that it creates an independence in a child. I was very independent of my parents from JSS 2-3 and I started planning my life sitting in a boarding house. So, the influence of my parents to certain decisions in my life that I took were very minimal. These days, because of the advent of the social media, very little things go viral and I think part of the disadvantage is the failure of the home.
Parents leave their responsibilities to teachers. Certain values that they are supposed to build into the child, they don’t do it. They wait for the teacher to do it. And for the records, some of the teachers teaching our children in schools are single teachers and have no experience of parenting children. So, they are imbibing academic values. Imbibing academic values and imbibing family values are two different things entirely.
Those days, there were no emails, no social media but my father will always insist that you write him a letter when you go to school. There were things he checked. In those letters, he wants to check your handwriting, your English or grammar and when you return from school, he sits you down and analyse those things. You discuss what happened in school, share ideas and he gave advise where need be. He never relented in his responsibilities as a father.
But these days, you see some parents, their child commit a crime, they say, I will report you to your teacher. Every correction is now taken to the school, every value that the child should learn from home is taken to the school. I want to believe that the issue of bullying and sexuality trending in our schools today didn’t start in school. It started peeping its ugly head from the home when parents dressed their children, especially the female ones, in very seductive ways.
So, as remedy, both the teachers in the school system and the family need to start inculcating good moral values right from the home and then, as a parent, you need to also be concerned about the quality of teachers that are impacting academic values on the children.
FRANCA JANDO: For a long time, even lesbianism has been reported in girls only boarding schools. The difference between then and now is that school administrators were more alert on the happenings than now. In the past, around 11:00pm to 12:00am, even school principals will be checking the hostels for what is going on and if they notice any relationship between a boy and a girl, or boy to a boy, or girl to girl, they would warn them against such behaviour.
If you were caught bullying, you would be suspended and if you repeat the act, you would be expelled. But now, money rules so many things especially children from very well-to-do families. Their parents will come and pay money and nothing will happen even if they are caught. So, it boils down to the administration. If they are watchful, from the principal, matrons and all the teachers, they would find out what is happening and try to curtail it.
The family has also relegated its duty and needs to wake up. If I train my child and teach him or her that this aspect of sexuality is wrong, he would be mindful. In some schools, the administration is very loose. In TC those days, we went there with all manner of people, and because we were trained that a man should not touch you because if a man touches you, you will be pregnant, when the big girls were going to town, we stayed back.
You will be so afraid to follow bad company. So, if you are well taught in your house, even at 10, 11 years, you would be careful. Parents should strive hard to inculcate all the knowledge and positive values that the children need to have. They should know the truth about sexuality and the consequences.
Now that there is Parents, Teachers Association, PTA, in schools, we can’t say scrap the boarding system because you are disciplined in school and even those who do not know how to wash their clothes, sweep, you learn there because you are forced to do it. So boarding school system is good but the school administration and PTA should come together and inculcate values in the children that will guide them to do the right thing at all times.
STELLA OZEMELA: It is really sad to hear the kind of stories emanating from boarding schools. This only means that the system has fallen. In those days, teachers had discipline. Today, schools have changed to the point that teachers are now too afraid to carry out their responsibilities for fear that parents of their students might withdraw their wards from the school.
This has resulted in unruly behaviour from students. I make bold to say that, the school system needs to retrace its step and ensure that the right moral guidance is carried out by teachers both academic and non-academic. The boarding school needs a total rejigging and reformation in order to get it back on track.
OGECHUKWU OBASI: I am saddened by the turn of events and how our boarding schools have deteriorated to this point. It pains me to say the least. The rate of bullying and sexual activities, especially the recent cases, is heart-shattering.
I am of the opinion that, we got to this level due to parental neglect. Teachers are also culpable and should be warned to either take their role seriously or quit teaching. To think that these are the kind of things that are happening in our boarding schools, I am afraid. Both parents and teachers need to take their roles seriously.
