Kenyans are very conscious and assertive of their rights today. This includes our children. Of late, my school going preteen sons, who are 10, and 8 are fond of the two words, ‘my rights’.
When, I pull a typical African mum on them, and randomly assign tasks, just because I can, they suddenly remember they have rights.
Their use of the term rights varies depending on how interesting the task is. If it involves food or going for a day out then, they keep quiet because they know the outcome is worth the effort. If the task involves anything else that may not be as interesting to them, at that moment then, sometimes, the term rights comes in. Or maybe they are simply being children.
So where did they get this word rights from, and to what extent are they made aware of this? Since this is not a new term to any parent, I will just break it down in a very moderate way. In Kenya, the government and the family is charged with ensuring the survival and proper development of every child.
The 2010 Constitution (Article 53) recognises the right of all children to be protected from abuse, neglect, harmful cultural practices, all forms of violence, inhumane treatment and punishment, and hazardous or exploitative labour.
The children rights and laws in Kenya that every parent or guardian should be aware of includes right to life, right to parental care, right to education, religious education, right to healthcare, child labour protection rights, disabled children rights, child abuse protection rights, drug protection rights and right to privacy.
The main role of democracy in education in the school sector is to promote a common code of fundamental democratic values.
The social studies curriculum, in the Kenyan primary school exposes our children to their rights. It raises their awareness, imparts knowledge, changes their attitude and ultimately their behaviour once they are made aware of their rights. But to what degree are our children capable of asserting their rights in our society?
The parent-child relationship in the typical Kenyan family is generally hierarchical. In as much as parents are there to nurture the physical, emotional and social development of their children, mutually with their children, there is still a silent respectable power distance, almost for eternity. Their however exists a culture shock, sometimes our children get it wrong.
Sometimes children start displaying, so-called western-like behaviour, mentioning rights to their parents, who inadvertently believe they are in charge of their children’s personality, life choices and overall behaviour.
The effects of getting this level of democracy twisted can be seen when its that time of the year when Kenyan high school students start burning schools in the name of having efforts to have their teachers of their schools listen to them. In fact, one of my students in the university mentioned to me that that’s the only way management would understand them and their rights when they were in high school. Or it was simply revenge.
We also accept that for sure, occasionally, teachers and appointed prefects misuse their level of authority. The government has also not shown to solve this deep-rooted issue of arson in schools in entirety.
So to what extent in theory and practice can democracy be taught without creating a culture shock at home? We must first accept that we are living in a highly globalised society. The world is fast changing, with our children being very high consumers of content through social media, from across the world, including those of low context cultures where there is very little power distance between parents and children.
While I keep reminding my sons about our values and beliefs and correct usage of the rights they learn, and communicating the same effectively, there is also the Tik Tok effect, many children are exposed to with all sorts of useless videos, giving them options and responses, with mini useless case studies.
Regulating and reversing the effects of this in terms of our children understanding the scope of their rights in their own context, may only be up to the same curriculum. Not just to mention these rights, but to help our children learn, unlearn and relearn in the context of our culture.
Vera is a part time lecturer and a communications researcher
