Date Posted: 4/24/2012 1:36:55 AM
Posted By: Bony maurice Membership Level: Silver Total Points: 214
Kenyan schools have designed rules and regulations to assist students conform to the expected norms of the society. It is most definite that no institution can be run without governing laws around. The laws are always there to model the youngsters into all-round people. However, a time comes when some learners fail to abide by these regulations. This is a case when there is cheating in examination, sexual offences, disobedience to teachers and parents and truancy. Assaults, insults, drug offences and smoking are also considered deviant behaviors. But then the question is, what causes all these?: 1. High handedness by the school authority. When the students feel the rules put forth are oppressing them, then they are likely to oppose. Therefore there occurs a conflict between them and the school administration. Sometimes this may be genuine while in other occasions the learners will just fight for leniency that satisfies their youthful desires. 2. Adolescence - This is an age cohort where most teenagers are under the pressure of their bodies. Some of them want to appear as adults. They therefore do what adults do; which for them is illegal. They are also under peer influence and just engage in behaviors because their comrades are also doing the same. It this at this stage that they do things merely to be seen. (3). Materialism - Some learners may be from high-social economic status families and they expect the same at school. This leads them to under-rating teachers who look to be of low class. These learners fail to concentrate in class, to hand-in assignments and to do whatever the teacher instructs. Some sneak out of school to get money and even take drugs. 4. Conformity - deviance from one's group's standards is often conformity to another's. If people with whom a student associates with are deviant, then the student is likely to follow. When members of a peer group approve of certain activities, new members of the group tend to adopt the same behavior. 5. Prejudices and biases - some students and teachers prejudice against others, hence reinforcing deviance. A student who is tagged to be problematic has a harder task proving his innocence among teachers and the entire administration. 6. Deviance is also due to failure to adjust to the school situation. S/he may be new like for a first year or one transferred from another school. They may as a result avoid to attend school in pretense. They become aggressive, struggle to forget the situation they are in by engaging in drugs among others. Deviance is a great challenge in the school community that the administration must always make great efforts to combat. The learners must be corrected as early as possible to develop them into responsible members of the society. Teachers must not treat deviant behaviors as offences but behaviors that are capable of being modified. If the school experience is made pleasurable and rewarding, the learners will have no genuine reasons not to obey. Cooperation with parents and the community at large will minimize deviant behaviors and avoid such instances as strikes and demonstrations.
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