Teachers need to appreciate the youth

Media reports this week about how two students in separate schools were assaulted by their teachers on claims of failing to finish their homework and being a lesbian raise fundamental questions about our schools and society.

Indeed, the latter incident has resulted in a court case due to the injuries the student sustained in the assault.

How does one teach values or morals to the youth in the 21st century? Are schools reforming and moving with the times or are they stuck in the past? How do we deal with the youth who are more focused on experimentation and are becoming increasingly independent?

By definition most high school students all over the world are rebellious. And we all understand this, thanks to their stage in life. Teachers, just like parents, need not overreact to this behaviour; they need to know what to expect.

However, “expect” does not mean accept. Expect means knowing enough about adolescence so that they are not blind-sided by a change they could have predicted, but did not, thus making a bad situation worse.

Having taught in high school and worked with adolescents for more than 15 years, I know that they will always put themselves at risk for more freedom. It is therefore the job of teachers to do what they can, through the guidance they give, the supervision they provide and the structures they impose to help create a safe passage to adulthood.

INCREASINGLY COMPLEX

Admittedly, the role of the teacher is becoming increasingly complex as we move into “modern” times. The teacher and administrator must therefore continuously engage in self-evaluation. This, again, coming at a time when much of the media children and adolescents are exposed to promote values contrary to tradition.

How can we teach them how to decide what music to listen to and which movies to watch? How does what they see and hear through other socialising agents change their view of the teacher or school administrator and society? How does the teacher deal with this very “fast-changing” adolescent?

A look at our media may give us a clue as to why our children are going astray. Both print and electronic platforms are full of stories of people involved in violence, gang activity, inappropriate sexual behaviour and crime.

For each of these people who find themselves outside of the law or having violated the fundamental values of society, there are grieving parents and disappointed siblings and spouses, wishing for what might have been.

This scenario perhaps explains why when social and market norms collide, trouble sets in. Therefore, one of the best teaching opportunities for our consumer-focused younger generation is to challenge the choices they make, especially in entertainment, that can have an undue influence on developing minds.

But challenging is quite different from forcing. School administrators must continually find ways of helping learners entrusted with them to grow as they seek an education which itself is part of growth. They must stop embarrassing them in an effort to enforce rules.

Simply, they must understand them.

Dr Mogambi teaches at the University of Nairobi and is the executive director, Southern Sahara Group [email protected]