- Every public speech, rally and social media post is shaping how children understand leadership and citizenship.
- Educators warn that learners are increasingly imitating the behaviour and language of political leaders.
- The article calls on leaders to recognise their influence as role models beyond elections and public office.
A strange classroom has quietly emerged in Kenya. It has no blackboard. No timetable. No examinations. Yet millions of learners attend its lessons every single day.
Its teachers are not employed by the Teachers Service Commission.
They are our politicians.
Every political rally, parliamentary debate, television interview, press conference and viral social media clip has become a lesson for children. Whether leaders realise it or not, they are shaping the character of the next generation far beyond the walls of Parliament.
The question that should trouble every parent, teacher and leader is no longer whether learners are watching.
They are.
The real question is:
What exactly are they learning?
Schools spend years teaching discipline, honesty, integrity, respect, peaceful coexistence and responsible citizenship. Parents sacrifice everything to raise children with good morals. Religious institutions preach humility, compassion and forgiveness.
Yet all those lessons can be weakened within minutes when children repeatedly watch adults they admire behave in ways that contradict those values.
Perhaps the greatest challenge facing schools today is not teaching new values—it is undoing behaviours that learners have absorbed from the society around them.
Across the country, politics has found its way into classrooms, assembly halls, playgrounds and dormitories.
Learners imitate politicians with astonishing accuracy. They copy campaign slogans, dramatic gestures, famous catchphrases and passionate speeches. They even recreate heated political debates during break time.
The performances are often humorous.
The message behind them is not.
Children imitate what captures their attention.
If leaders demonstrate wisdom, humility and respect, learners copy those qualities.
If leaders communicate through insults, hostility or division, some learners may begin to believe that such behaviour is the true language of leadership.
One school administrator summed up the growing concern with remarkable honesty: “I never imagined our learners were observing society’s negative behaviours so closely. What is even more worrying is that they are not merely copying them—they are adapting them, amplifying them and reproducing them in new forms within our school halls, classrooms and playgrounds.”
Another administrator watched learners perform a political skit during a school event and quietly remarked: “I wish these skits could be performed before the very leaders being imitated. Perhaps seeing themselves through the eyes of children would cause some politicians to pause, reflect and even repent. Children have a remarkable way of holding a mirror to society.”
Those words should not be dismissed as casual observations.
They are a warning.
Schools should not become political arenas
Teachers are increasingly finding themselves correcting behaviours that learners did not acquire from textbooks.
In some schools, public political controversies have even become topics of disagreement among learners. Educators describe occasions when a child’s connection to a well-known public figure led classmates to tease, defend or argue over issues unfolding in the public arena. Teachers often have to step in quickly—not to settle political debates, but to protect every learner’s dignity and keep the school focused on education rather than division.
Schools should never become extensions of political conflict.
Children should never carry the burden of adult disagreements.
This is why leadership matters far beyond elections.
Politicians do not only influence voters.
They influence children who cannot yet vote but who are already deciding what leadership looks like.
A call to lead by example
This article is not an attack on politicians. It is a heartfelt appeal.
Many leaders serve with honour, promote peace, champion education and demonstrate integrity every day. They deserve recognition because they model the values our children need.
But every public leader should remember one simple truth:
Children are always watching.
They are always listening.
And they are always learning.
The greatest monument any politician can leave behind is not a road, a bridge or even an election victory.
It is a generation that chooses honesty over corruption, dialogue over insults, unity over division and service over self-interest because those are the examples it witnessed from its leaders.
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Before stepping onto a campaign platform, entering Parliament or posting on social media, every leader should pause and ask one question:
“If every learner copied my words, my attitude and my behaviour today, would Kenya become a better nation tomorrow?”
That answer will not only define a political legacy.
It may define the future of our children.
By Hillary Muhalya
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