This archive report was first published on 9 July 2019.
Published on July 9, 2019, a bullying case at Nairobi School left a Form Two student in need of surgery, sparking a wave of netizens sharing their own experiences of being bullied by school prefects.
Many of the tweets pointed to school prefects as the main culprits, with some recalling instances of prefects taking on a role similar to teachers, doling out punishments and wielding power.
"I remember back in my high school, some prefects had taken over the role of teachers to punish us. When I even remember that our Head Boy then had a fellow prefect as a 'Bodyguard', Magoti zinaisha nguvu," tweeted @KenyanHorn.
Others shared similar stories, with @FrankMathenge recalling a time when it was safer to be caught misbehaving by the principal than the school captain.
"Why do teachers give so much power to prefect?!" asked @GichanaWaithira. "Nairobi School, WE WANT ANSWERS!"
According to a 2017 report by the World Health Organization, Kenya was ranked among countries with the highest level of bullying. At the national level, bullying in schools in Kenya stands at 57 per cent for students who are bullied on one or more days in a month.
