The
pupils and students of today are extremely hyper. Teachers have
been playing a key role in taming them to some extent.
Early
marriages were initially blamed on cultural practices. However, the pupils and
students who are at adolescence stage right now were born between 1998 and 2003.
They were born to parents who are either enlightened on retrogressive cultural practices
or who do not know much of their African traditions.
In
spite of the aforementioned issue, there are high cases of pregnancies and
early marriages in both primary and secondary school. The problem is more
pronounced in day primary and secondary schools from Std 6 onwards.
Vibes Driving Early
Pregnancies
Men
who are either malicious or simply reckless with respect to children’s rights are
busy sending love messages (Vibes) to young girls in primary and secondary
schools. The effects of these well-crafted vibes on an adolescent mind cannot be underestimated. The teachers have been having the added task of fighting this problem which
is actually outside their mandate. Parents have given up on taming this vice which
has been exacerbated by the widely available cheap mobile phones.
This
vice of early marriages and pregnancies is all over Kenya. We emphasize that
this problem is all over Kenya. Even in counties where residents have been known to be deeply religious, the issue is done under the carpet.
Effects Quantified Qualitatively
As
the strike goes on, Pesa Mashinani qualitatively projects that several girls
have either been impregnated or they have been married by men who are reckless
of children’s rights. We are not talking of forced marriages here. These are
marriages where school girls have been wooed freely by men. The effects can
easily be quantified by looking
at the register of pupils or students who return back to the schools once the strike ends. We
project that the figure will exceed 1,000 pupils and students.