Dying in school: Mystifying rise in teen suicides
Kisii residents during a suicide prevention awareness walk dubbed ‘Creating hope through action’, on September 16, 2022.
When Enock Kipkoech parted with his parents to report for third term at St Theresa’s Primary School in Kericho County on Monday last week, they did not know that it would be their last time together – and the parting would be forever. On Tuesday, Kipkoech, a Kenya Certificate of Primary Education candidate, took his life after alleged corporal punishment meted out to him by a teacher.
A post-mortem report compiled by two pathologists – Dr Wesley Rotich and Dr K Keitany – indicates the deceased had deep spots and broken arteries at the back and dead arteries on the buttocks. It is alleged that the boy was called to the staffroom by a teacher, who beat him for picking a desk from another classroom and taking it to his own without permission. The boy is said to have been seen crying as he left the staffroom towards the toilets where he hanged himself.
“As a family, this is too much for us to take. We are yet to come to terms with the reality that we have lost our son under such circumstances,” said Dr Richard Siele, the deceased’s father, who is a practising medic in Eldoret.
“We are asking the police, the Ministry of Education and other relevant government agencies to get to the bottom of this and take appropriate action.”
The school declined to speak on the matter and instead referred Saturday Nation to the police and the Ministry of Education.
Kericho sub-county police commander Abdul Kadir Malicha and criminal investigations officer Rhoda Kanyi said investigations were ongoing. No arrests had been made by press time.
Kipkoech’s death is among many cases of learners dying in school. Though no official statistics exist, the numbers being reported are not encouraging.
On August 26, an 18-year-old Maseno School student reportedly died by suicide just after they went back from the half-term break. The Form Three student is alleged to have jumped out of the dormitory window in the early hours of the morning, but his family is not convinced by the version of the story.
His father, Caleb Ingolo, said he received a distress call at 4.30am on the fateful day asking him to rush to school. He was informed by the deputy principal that his son had jumped off a window from the second floor of his dormitory and had been taken to a nearby hospital. When he got to the hospital, his son was on oxygen support but still unconscious, forcing him to seek further medical attention.
With the help of the school, the boy was transferred to Aga Khan Hospital, Kisumu, but was pronounced dead on arrival. “The doctors informed us that my son had died 20 minutes earlier, the reason behind his death is still unknown,” he said.
A report by Kisumu West police boss David Nyabuto revealed that the deceased left behind a note in the locker of one of his classmates asking him to look after his belongings. He did not give a clear reason for his action. However, Mr Ingolo maintained that the circumstances around his son’s death were suspicious. He disputed the handwriting on the note as that belonging to his son. “I don’t know why my son would commit suicide. He did not complain of anything. He had been jovial and cheeky as was his nature the entire holiday,” he said.
In Turkana County, 13-year-old Allan Kipkoech took his own life on September 14 after his mother confronted him over poor results. He was in Standard 7 at Harmony Academy and is said to have hanged himself in his parents’ house. “I established that he scored 198 marks, which were lower than the previous results of between 230 and 250. I asked him why he was dropping and I left to visit his grandmother, I told him to do better next term,” she said, adding she was jovial and respectful.
In yet another incident, a 16-year-old girl is said to have died by suicide at a school in Tala, Machakos County, on August 31. She is said to have hanged herself in a dormitory after the deputy principal allegedly asked her to return items she had been accused of stealing.
“The deputy principal was handling an issue with a Form Three student by the name (withheld) aged 16 on allegation of stealing Sh2,500 and a packet of pencils,” a police report reads.
“The student took too long to come back, thus making the deputy principal suspicious. She proceeded to the dorm in the company of three other students, only to find the student's body.”
Police were immediately called to the scene to commence investigations. The student’s body was taken to the Kangundo Hospital mortuary. The girl’s mother, who has since recorded a statement, accused the school of complacency, saying it handled the events that led to her daughter’s death unprofessionally. She accused the school of concealing what transpired before her daughter’s death. The girl left a suicide note in which she pleads innocence.
In most cases, teachers and parents blame each other for the deaths and the conflict overshadows deeper issues. Psychologist Nelson Aseri says external factors such as social and academic pressure due to the stressful year has stressed learners who have been subjected to rushed lessons and very short breaks meant to allow a return the normal academic calendar. “Parenting also plays a factor, with more children growing up with single parents sometimes developing an emotional gap in their upbringing, especially if not loved by father and mother figures ,” he says.
He warns, however, that most young people who struggle with mental illnesses live in stressful and abusive homes and feel hopeless when they have nowhere else to go. “Sometimes you can find that the parents are the source of the problem and the child feels trapped. That is why sometimes psychologists and counsellors would like to also talk to parents in sessions to assess the child's living conditions.”
Researchers say alcohol and drugs should be avoided by such individuals as they can increase depression, hamper problem-solving abilities, making them act impulsively by choosing to end their lives.
Kakamega School chaplain Joseph Likule, who is in charge of guidance and counselling, said they have introduced a stress management programme to help students cope with challenges. HE cited lack of proper guidance in society as a leading cause of suicide among young people. “Schools and churches need to provide longitudinal suicidal prevention programmes to students so that they understand what life is all about and what God wants out of them,” he said.
Counselling psychologist George Nzomo said most teen suicides are due to family-related stress, physiological stress and spiritual issues. “Most parents have left their roles to house workers and are not involved in their children’s life. This has exposed many children to stress, which leads them to depression and if they are not attended to, it causes them to commit suicide.”
Mr Nzomo, who is also a pastor, urged teachers and parents to get involved in learners’ activities to ensure they are mentally okay. “Spiritual guidance in children is very important and, therefore, schools should engage faith-based counselling while parents should have counselling and spiritual guidance at home.”
According to Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers Siaya County executive secretary Sam Opondo, pressure on children from home is one of the major causes of teen suicides. He said the rising cases have been escalated by the inadequate attention that the parents give their children during holidays. “Parents are busy looking for resources, making them strangers to their own children and this has increased pressure on them.”
For Sammy Bor, Uasin Gishu branch secretary, peer influence, pressure to excel and congested academic activities contribute to the rise in teen suicides.
Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association chair Indimuli Kahi said families are quick to blame teachers even when they are not culpable, adding some parents fail to disclose their children’s full medical conditions.
By Vitalis Kimutai, David Muchunguh, Vincent Achuka, Barnabas Bii, Kassim Adinasi, Shaban Makokha, Sylvia Angeline Ochieng, Florah Koech, Sammy Lutta, Sylvia Muia, Stanley Kimuge and Faith Nyamai
