Teens out of control? Blame it on parents, teachers
Sep 16, 2008
ADOLESCENCE! Everyone has a story to share. It may not be easy to tell what those who are at this stage (between the ages of about 12 and 18 years) undergo. All that they feel is being powerful and more intelligent than others. What they need are adults who will help them adjust; to make the best an
By Florence Nakaayi
ADOLESCENCE! Everyone has a story to share. It may not be easy to tell what those who are at this stage (between the ages of about 12 and 18 years) undergo. All that they feel is being powerful and more intelligent than others. What they need are adults who will help them adjust; to make the best and safest choices. The question is: where are these adults?
Stanley Hall, an American psychologist and educator, described adolescence as a biologically determined period of stress and storm, in which instability and fluctuation are normal and expected.
George Opiro, the principal education officer (guidance and counselling) in the education ministry, says the predisposing factors of adolescent crime cast stones at all stakeholders. He says criminal tendencies in adolescents begin as a behaviour problem, which can escalate and become psychopathological in nature.
The psychopathological factors, Opiro says, manifest in depression, violent strikes, fire-setting and other anti-social activities. He says in order to raise socially acceptable children, all stakeholders — parents, teachers, the Government and community leaders — have to take up their roles. “Remedies to adolescent crime lie in understanding them,†he says, adding: “We have to portray, live, do, say and react as we would want the children to.â€
Speaking at the Kampala district teachers’ training on safety and security in schools recently, Opiro said feeling angry, ignored, sad or depressed are other influencing factors. He summarises the predisposing factors to adolescent crime to include peers, academic factors, learning disability, social cognition problem-solving and bad schools.
Others are anti-social and personality disorders, psychoactive substance abuse, pyromania, hormonal factors, moral reasoning deficits, social information processing and familial influence.
Opiro says being rejected and disliked as a child precipitates the development of aggressive delinquent behaviour. “Students who have a propensity to be delinquents, or are currently delinquent, seek out their counterparts to relate; a kind of birds of similar features flocking together,†he notes.
Research reveals that children rated by their mothers as difficult to deal with at the age of 1-5 years, display twice the rates of delinquency in adolescence as children rated as easy to handle.
Opiro says since a school is a major social institution for the growing child, it can affect the individual’s social and cognitive personality, as well as sexual development.
“Irrespective of the child’s ability and background, some schools could be bad; in that they act as a breeding ground for delinquency and later crime,†Opiro says.
He says schools could build low self-esteem in students by labelling them with names. “Parents should react positively to children who do not like school, understand what their problems could be, instead of resorting to beating,†he says.
He adds that disabled children may suffer failure and severe frustration but could be protected from the development of delinquency by being brought up in a supportive environment.
Academic demands strain students; for example tests, beginning of term exams, mid-term exams, monthly exams and weekend lessons, which can make adolescents hate schooling.
Other reasons why children hate school, Opiro says, are poor quality teachers who are ineffective in exerting class control, denial of basic rights, being too soft or strict on children’s behaviour, inappropriate use of rewards and punishments and a high teacher-student ratio.
“The rewards and punishments should be consistent to every individual, to minimise feelings of discrimination,†Opiro says.
How to handle the factors
Provide:
Psychosocial support services;
Run an established buddies systems,
Have a clear orientation programme for new students,
Have psychotherapies and stress management exercises and debriefing, trauma management
Guidance and counselling services educational, career/ vocational , social , psychological both in groups and individually,
Develop a non-violent conflict resolution strategy,
Institute a school peer mediation programme,
Institute a peer counselling programme
Have a programme and facilities for games and sports.
ADOLESCENCE! Everyone has a story to share. It may not be easy to tell what those who are at this stage (between the ages of about 12 and 18 years) undergo. All that they feel is being powerful and more intelligent than others. What they need are adults who will help them adjust; to make the best and safest choices. The question is: where are these adults?
Stanley Hall, an American psychologist and educator, described adolescence as a biologically determined period of stress and storm, in which instability and fluctuation are normal and expected.
George Opiro, the principal education officer (guidance and counselling) in the education ministry, says the predisposing factors of adolescent crime cast stones at all stakeholders. He says criminal tendencies in adolescents begin as a behaviour problem, which can escalate and become psychopathological in nature.
The psychopathological factors, Opiro says, manifest in depression, violent strikes, fire-setting and other anti-social activities. He says in order to raise socially acceptable children, all stakeholders — parents, teachers, the Government and community leaders — have to take up their roles. “Remedies to adolescent crime lie in understanding them,†he says, adding: “We have to portray, live, do, say and react as we would want the children to.â€
Speaking at the Kampala district teachers’ training on safety and security in schools recently, Opiro said feeling angry, ignored, sad or depressed are other influencing factors. He summarises the predisposing factors to adolescent crime to include peers, academic factors, learning disability, social cognition problem-solving and bad schools.
Others are anti-social and personality disorders, psychoactive substance abuse, pyromania, hormonal factors, moral reasoning deficits, social information processing and familial influence.
Opiro says being rejected and disliked as a child precipitates the development of aggressive delinquent behaviour. “Students who have a propensity to be delinquents, or are currently delinquent, seek out their counterparts to relate; a kind of birds of similar features flocking together,†he notes.
Research reveals that children rated by their mothers as difficult to deal with at the age of 1-5 years, display twice the rates of delinquency in adolescence as children rated as easy to handle.
Opiro says since a school is a major social institution for the growing child, it can affect the individual’s social and cognitive personality, as well as sexual development.
“Irrespective of the child’s ability and background, some schools could be bad; in that they act as a breeding ground for delinquency and later crime,†Opiro says.
He says schools could build low self-esteem in students by labelling them with names. “Parents should react positively to children who do not like school, understand what their problems could be, instead of resorting to beating,†he says.
He adds that disabled children may suffer failure and severe frustration but could be protected from the development of delinquency by being brought up in a supportive environment.
Academic demands strain students; for example tests, beginning of term exams, mid-term exams, monthly exams and weekend lessons, which can make adolescents hate schooling.
Other reasons why children hate school, Opiro says, are poor quality teachers who are ineffective in exerting class control, denial of basic rights, being too soft or strict on children’s behaviour, inappropriate use of rewards and punishments and a high teacher-student ratio.
“The rewards and punishments should be consistent to every individual, to minimise feelings of discrimination,†Opiro says.
How to handle the factors
Provide: