Boarding schools are no longer sustainable

There has been a hot debate following recent ugly incidents in schools, with many people calling for tougher disciplinary measures, including the return of corporal punishment. What is your take on this?

The Children Act banned corporal punishment. We cannot casually bring back the cane. The law gives children rights, just as it gives adults rights. The question is: how do we operate within the law and develop alternative mechanisms of discipline? We need to understand the  kind of children we are dealing with today and create systems that allow them to express themselves responsibly.

Are children demanding too much? And does this attitude qualify for indiscipline?

We should stop telling children that they should not question authority. In fact, adults need to ask themselves what kind of example they are setting. When children see corruption and leaders seemingly getting away with it, what values are they expected to learn?

Values are both caught and taught. You can teach a child in class that stealing is wrong, but if that child goes to social media and sees adults glorifying the proceeds of corruption, what do they learn? Teachers and preachers are doing their part, but leadership can undo everything in one tweet or one social media post.

So, you believe the debate about indiscipline should also examine adult behaviour?

We cannot point fingers at children all the time. We must ask ourselves: what discipline are we displaying? Who are children copying? What are they mimicking? We need to return to Article 10 of the Constitution, which speaks about our national values and principles of governance. Some people do not even have the moral authority to lecture children about good behaviour. When leaders lose moral authority, children inevitably lose respect for elders. That is why we must ask ourselves when and where things went wrong.