What Makes Kids Go To School?
Let’s eliminate the obvious reasons
It is not the school bus.
Most of the schools, at least in my country, don’t have school buses. In my early primary school years, I never knew the joy of going to school on a bus.
I recall one time when my mother was escorting me to the bus stage so she could put me inside one of the public means, as was always the case, so I could be dropped at the gate of my school, Infill Academy.
At the time, we were staying in Kayole. We had just crossed the road when she spotted the school bus.
Possessed, she started chasing it. Unrelentingly. She finally managed to get the attention of the driver. Confused, I ran behind her. She then told me to climb the bus with the faith that at the end of the ride, I would be in school.
I never paid for school transport that year, but that ride will always be in my mind. Story for another day.
The point is I would get to school through other ways besides using the school bus. Most of the time, I would walk. So that is barely one of the main reasons kids go to school.
It is not to get an education
The first day in school is one of the days we hardly remember.
It is often narrated to us by our elder siblings, guardians, or parents.
At that age, most of us don’t know how to read or write but we can sing some of the most popular songs at that time. I was a big fan of Barbie Girl for reasons I have never known.
At that age, the most we can do is chew crayons, fold paper and if one is an overachiever, if such a word makes sense, draw spaghetti lines on book covers. I don’t know if these special people grow to become the academic gurus or the artists we always celebrate.
But by and large, kids don’t go to school because they want an education.
Heck, nobody loved homework. Dogs did. That’s why they ate them after we worked ‘tirelessly’ to complete them.
Kids, however, are taken to school because those who take them want them to gain an education. Kids don’t want it.
They may be taken to school but who makes them remain? Or who convinces the kids to continue going back to school?
It’s not the bus.
It’s not the teachers.
It’s not the watchmen.
If we’re to borrow a leaf from the stories of Moses from Old Mukibi’s Institute of Sons of African Gentlemen, we can have an idea explaining why kids would want to go back to school.
A crew
Moses had a crew
It was the most adventurous crew. Besides Moses, two other people stood out — King Kong and Itchy Fingers. King Kong wanted to grow up and become so famous as to marry Miriam Makeba. Itchy Fingers was always itching to steal something. Together, their crew had the most outlandish but memorable adventures.
These curious students too were taken to school. Our elders take us to school, but the reason we’d go was because of our peers.
Every morning when I go to work, I encounter all types of children. On the first arm of the walking strip are kids in purple sweaters and beige brown shorts. These kids are very smart and well-dressed, and their shoes are often well-polished. Not that interesting.
On the second strip, I encounter a mixed group. The first is those with green uniforms, from sweaters to checked shirts and dresses. These ones are not as neat but they are presentable. They disappear somewhere along the second-arm stretch of the road.
By the time I am close to work, I am left with the final bunch. The remainder of the two groups. This group accompanies me up to the gate from where I get in, as they branch in the opposite direction. They are the dirtiest, the loudest, the rowdiest, the ones I enjoy walking around the most.
Their socks can tell two different stories on both legs. The left can have socks stretching to the knees with firm grips while the one on the right can be baggy and loose hanging close to the ankles.
Their bags are often twice their size and their heads have different hair patterns. Finding a kid whose hair is combed is a rarity.
These bunch walk in groups and you can see the excitement in their faces and their stories. They always have stories. They highlight why children go to school.
Usually, as they near the school gate, they have to cross the road. There is always a man in a lime green reflector holding a sign that reads:
Children crossing.
I enjoy the moments when they are just about to cross and the ones who are yet to get there start running to meet the group that has just started crossing. Stories stop midway and they start racing. It is often not to get to the group but to see who will get there first. And laugh at the ones who arrive last.
Everyone in their cars or on board motorcycles have to wait as these members of the royal class start a game that ends as fast as it begins.
These are the reasons children go to school. Education is just a side product. They would never want to go to school so they can learn and cure the most ravaging of human diseases or develop the catchiest technological innovation.
They want to go to school to meet Deno and play football with an empty plastic bottle with Kevin during break time. Jane can’t wait for break time to play bladder with Caro or kati with the other class members. Fun starts on the way to school and most definitely continues on their way back.
If intelligence follows a normal curve, which it does, then nobody goes to school to prove that this curve is wrong. Kids enjoy the company of other kids and that is the biggest motivator for going to school.
In church, I used to spot moments when young kids would separate themselves from their parents and wander around as their seniors kept a watchful eye on their whereabouts. The moment they spot another kid, it’s like an entrepreneur spotting an opportunity. Everything changes. They forget they have their parents or guardians. They want to play with the other guy.
Now that I think about it, I guess something similar can apply to one’s workplace. If the people around are the ones you enjoy hanging around, then you will enjoy your work. If not, it would feel like every day you’re innards were slowly dying.
What I’m trying to say is…
Kids go to school, not because of the school bus, teachers, or the teaching they will get.
Kids go to school because of other kids.
And if the kids don’t like those kids in school, or if they get bullied, attacked, or belittled, they will signal to the parents in different ways. It could even get pathological.
But if the kid has friends at school, and if possible, those they encounter when headed to and from school, then they have more than enough reason to never fail to show up.
