It is of great importance to have a school that is fully fenced and a home that is environmentally friendly for every member in a home. Fencing schools for students makes a smart move where we look at it as one of the ways of protecting children from all sorts of upheavals from the outside environment. In most cases when students are within the school gate, they are expected to move out only if they are given permission. The school environment seems to be more protective in cases when the gates are closed than when they are wide open or without any fencing at all. In the olden days with or without fencing, students could go to school freely. Students knew they had to go to school and only cross the school boundaries when the bell for going back home rang. They felt insecure just peeping at the neighbour’s mango tree and yet it was only a stone’s throw away between the school and the neighbour’s home. Today, students are very close friends to the neighbours irrespective of the high fences constructed around their schools. One wonders how this happens yet they are kept inside the gate. Students become more rebellious as they sneak out where the nearby kiosk becomes their drinking joint. Sometimes boys and girls reach an extent of sneaking out at night and spending the night out because they claim they are mature enough. You might not have realized how good or bad it is but when time comes for breaking off for holidays. They jubilate like they have been released from prison. You might say that we are in the 21st century and we ought to move with the trends, yet we forget what the right trend is. All we need is a new dance with a new style and a new people. Yes, we are moving in a modern world where children grow up in closed gates at home all the time and find the same story when they get back to school. I have always wondered what happens behind all these closed gates. At one time I thought it was meant for protection and maintaining discipline. However, one wonders to what extent and for how long.A human being needs to be set free in any given environment. If a child grows up in a morally upright situation even that fence around him will be a stumbling block in his way. I am not trying to forget that we are in a changing society but I think one will always fight hard to explore what lies behind the closed doors. Yet, if the gates are wide open, one gets a chance to know what is in the outside world, bearing in mind what it means to be smart. I look at the whole scenario with a keen eye but in a different perspective. One should be kept in a fence at least when they are either mentally perturbed or when one feels they will cause inconveniences to the public. Fencing schools is a necessary form of creating security for students. However with it comes a certain form of moral decay in our children. Where necessary, students should be taught how to prioritise their values and time instead of using an iron hand in their lives. Eventually, issues of indiscipline will decrease just like it used to be back in the days. The author is a teacher in the Eastern Provinceshebs10@yahoo.com
