)
)
A 15-year-old student from St Albertina-Kiongwani Girls High School in Makueni County is staring at the possibility of missing her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams after being suspended for possessing chewing gum.
The form four student was reportedly found with gum in her bag during a routine inspection as students returned from their mid-term break.
The incident has triggered a wave of nostalgia and debate, reminding many Kenyans of the unusual and often overwhelming punishments that characterised school life under the 8-4-4 education system.
While discipline has always been seen as an important aspect of moulding students, some measures taken by schools seemed less about correction and more about humiliation or exerting authority.
Here are some of the strangest and most memorable punishments that students endured in schools.
1. Sleeping in public as punishment
One of the more humiliating punishments was being forced to sleep in public spaces such as parade grounds after being caught napping in class or in the dormitory during odd hours.
Students sleeping outside as punishment
READ ALSO: 'Mkono wa shetani' & 7 other stories from left-handers in Kenyan schools
Teachers often believed that sleeping during lessons was a sign of laziness or lack of seriousness.
Instead of addressing the root cause, such as exhaustion or illness, students were sometimes paraded before their peers and ordered to take a nap in front of everyone.
This public spectacle was not only meant to shame the student but also to serve as a warning to others.
Many who went through this punishment recall the embarrassment of being treated like an example rather than a person in need of support.
2. Buying chewing gum and snacks
Possessing chewing gum or certain snacks was a punishable offence in many schools. In some cases, students were ordered to buy gum in bulk as a form of punishment.
The irony, of course, was that the very item they were not allowed to consume was what they had to provide in excess.
An AI-generated image of a man being caught with chewing gum
READ ALSO: 6 mischievous stopovers high schoolers make before heading back to school
The punishment extended beyond chewing gum. Students caught with prohibited snacks, such as crisps or sweets, often had to buy more of the same for the teachers or prefects.
This practice not only punished the offender but also turned into a form of exploitation, where the student was forced to use money they did not always have.
Others were sent home, and parents were forced to foot the cost of the accrued bill.
3. Buying novels for speaking vernacular
Language rules were strictly enforced, and speaking in vernacular or other banned languages often attracted peculiar punishments. In some schools, offenders were forced to buy novels for the school library as a corrective measure.
On paper, this may have encouraged literacy, but in reality, it was financially burdensome.
For many students, the punishment was particularly harsh because speaking in vernacular often happened unconsciously.
It reflected a deeper tension between preserving cultural identity and enforcing conformity.
4. Uprooting tree stumps and labour-intensive tasks
Physical punishments were also common, with some students forced to uproot tree stumps or engage in strenuous manual labour.
The tasks were time-consuming and physically exhausting, often leaving students too tired to concentrate on their studies.
Students uprooting a tree stump
READ ALSO: 10 women who made history after attending Butere Girls High School
While schools justified these punishments as instilling discipline and hard work, the reality was that they often crossed the line into exploitation.
Many students were made to perform tasks that should have been the responsibility of school workers.
5. Repairing or replacing broken items
Accidentally damaging school property was treated as a grave offence. Students were sometimes ordered to replace items with more than what was damaged, whether it was a piece of laboratory equipment, a section of barbed wire fence, or even a bag of cement.
The reasoning behind this was to deter carelessness, but the demands were often excessive.
This type of punishment placed a heavy burden on families, especially those struggling financially.
6. Wearing a shame sign
Perhaps one of the most degrading punishments was being forced to wear a sign around the neck indicating the offence committed.
A sign for Kiswahili speaking
Students who spoke Kiswahili in schools that enforced strict English-only policies, for instance, were made to wear placards that read 'I spoke Kiswahili.'
This punishment not only embarrassed the student but also reinforced negative attitudes towards certain languages. The use of shame as a disciplinary tool created long-lasting emotional scars for many.
7. Forced to spy on friends
Another less physical but equally damaging punishment involved being appointed as a class spy against one’s will.
Students were forced to report on their friends’ wrongdoings, effectively straining relationships and breeding mistrust.
A teacher and students in class
This punishment placed young students in difficult positions, torn between loyalty to their peers and fear of punishment from teachers.
In the long run, it undermined the spirit of camaraderie that schools were supposed to nurture. “I lost friends because they thought I was enjoying snitching, yet it was forced on me,” a former student explained.