By Erick Nyayiera
Parents need to help their children cope with what has been unfolding in the political arena following the just concluded electioneering events.
According to the principal of Kipasi Secondary School in Bondo Sub- county Mr. George Odhiambo, teachers are finding it difficult attending to students whose concentration is greatly affected by the political mood engulfing the country, especially in areas where they feel the results did not favour them.
Odhiambo regretted that the situation across schools depicted a sombre atmosphere as students lack concentration in studies.
He noted that the campaign period drove many students into politicking as some of them are voters.
“Apparently, in the Kenyan political set up, people view politics from a tribal angle. This too affects children who keenly follow their parents on every take in politics, resultantly affecting how they react to everything happening in the country. This unfortunately is the situation in our schools,” said Odhiambo.
He noted that the post-election trauma has affected the students, hence the need for parental help to manage the stress.
“Many students are yet to report to school even as we are closing for the term and we already know why they are not in school. It’s the stress of the elections outcome,” he observed.
Odhiambo on that note opines that it’s about the right time that the country introduced a whole new unit or topic on patriotism so that children get to know and understand that politics is not a matter of life and death.
“As a nation we need to get restored to our factory settings. We must find a way of helping people understand the definition of civics. What we have is the study of history and government while nobody teaches us about patriotism,” he regretted.
The principal also faulted the available internet space where a lot of hate messages are spreading, which do not spare the students either.
He noted that social media has played the role of catalyst in aggravating tribal hate and negative energy.
