Youth Voices: One marriage proposal later.

In my last blog, my goal was to decrease my screen time to two hours. Somehow I'm at seven hours now….29% increase since last week….I've been watching a lot of Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston movies during my free time. I finally finished the Maze Runners series and I still haven't emotionally recovered. I wish I could say I regret watching that much TV but it's helped me cope with the fact that we have so much free time here. This week we met SO many people. The stares that I was getting at the beginning of the week have transformed into smiles and waves. I feel much more comfortable here.

We started volunteering/teaching at the local primary school and preschool. Within a few minutes of being at the school, I quickly noticed how different Kenyan teaching styles are compared to American ones. The most important quality for students to learn in school is discipline. Wrong answer? Slap on the wrist with a bamboo stick. Sing the wrong note? Slap on the wrist. Talk out of line? Slap on the head. TALK BACK? Not finishing work? Not following instructions? Slap on the buttocks. Age is not a factor in discipline. Even the little three years old who barely speak get some slaps. I was horrified. I began asking people why they believe discipline should be prioritized to an extreme in schools. First, the class sizes for this school ranges from 120 to 130. The teacher does not have time to deliver individualized attention inside the classroom and needs the room to be silent to effectively deliver information. Second, discipline gives students opportunity. Many of these kids start school later because their parents cannot afford tuition or must take a break for a few years to help family businesses. A lot of the adults in the village stopped schooling in primary school. Here, school isn't "ugh, school", it's "you get to go to school??" Students acknowledge that the teacher is their opportunity to climb to the type of lifestyles they want and they are taught this at a young age...[CONTINUE READING]