Body shaming is so prevalent in learning institutions; it’s the evil act of subjecting someone to humiliation and criticism for their bodily features.
It has a broad scope of features. It’s not just limited to fatness shaming, thinness, height, colour, body shape, hairiness, and diseases that leave marks like psoriasis, among many others.
At times, body shaming could explicitly extend to a weird perception that one does not exhibit sufficient traits of either masculinity or femininity.
In men, lower self-esteem and eating disorders are grossly shamed.
The ultimate aim that all parents desire is to enable learners to acquire knowledge and skills in education and not otherwise.
There’s a large group of learners who stigmatise others. This indeed lowers their self-esteem and hence ruins the lives of unsuspecting learners. Because of such a simple attribute, many learners drop out of school.
It’s important to note that the body’s physical and mental development is at its peak in high school.
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Peer pressure at this stage of learning is so rife, and out of the scolding, some learners would prefer committing suicide to a second thought.
On their side, some teachers have remained aloof to the impending storm of what the resultant effect would be if shaming is left to thrive.
Additionally, low grades are so common that teachers have failed to realise that the learners’ dismal results are an absolute product of shaming.
Learning institutions should strengthen and prioritise guidance and counselling to alleviate the suffering that these learners go through in silence and away from the teacher’s vicinity.
A student accused of being obese would start avoiding certain foods or reducing the quantity taken, which may adversely affect the body with malnutrition.
On the other hand, a learner who’s said to be so slender would end up eating abnormally large amounts of food or applying relevant cosmetics to boost the appearance of the body, which may eventually lead to unnecessary infections.
There are certain characteristics that are hard to change, and all and sundry should realise that no one would have wished to be born with any disability.
Some people avoid coexisting with people who are differently abled. Well, we are people just like any other, and it’s an abomination to shame us for how we are created because we can’t change anything.
Let the teachers and learners take the lead in stamping out shaming from the face of our institutions.
By Abigael Muhalya
Abigael is the student head of Thika School For The Blind.
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