Last week, a 12-year-old boy, Sylvester Oromoni passed away while nursing multiple internal injuries alleged to have been sustained after he was beaten by his fellow students who were bullying him at a boarding school, Dowen College, Lagos state. 
The incident has since raised fresh concerns about the safety of students in boarding schools across the country.
Prior to the incident, a story leading to the death of 14-year-old Karen-Happuch Aondodoo Akpagher of Premier Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, sparked controversy as the school reportedly tried to cover up the real cause of her death.
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But in truth the case of bullism and forced occultic initiation isn’t particularly a new phenomenon in the country nor even around the world, so it seemed quite hypocritical to me when I all of a sudden saw rise up and join their voices in the call for justice for Sylvester the 12-year-old boy that was killed at Dowen College.
While deep down in my stomach I felt like some of those making the call are actually culprits of this particular ill they are calling out. But yes it is appreciated that they made helped increase the ovation in the call for justice for Sylvester Jr. However the question I feel that should be asked is that why is bullying, cult groups so predominant in boarding schools.
Well below were the 5 reasons that dug up;
- Poor or lack of proper Surveillance
Children between the age of 9-18 are in their adolescent stage in life, where they want to express themselves the most and pick up on things seen and are very willing to recreate. That’s why it is very necessary for prompt good surveillance systems to be put in place by schools to ensure that when certain things are happening they can be quickly nipped in the bud before it escalates beyond control. - Culture Of School Father/Mother
This particular culture very popular in boarding schools is outrightly wrong. It is proven over the years that attaching your child to an older child to act as a school father/mother figure is a recipe for harassment, assault and taking advantage of the small pupil perpetually.
This culture of parents attaching their child to some figure in school as father or mother figure, in the long run, affects the child’s social status amongst its peer sometimes it might be good but most times it isn’t. So say your child is paired with a bully senior such a child might not necessarily take advantage of the child in his care but might take advantage of other junior children around him and the one paired up with him/her picks up these traits or behaviour and carries on the evil after the other senior leaves. The vicious cycle continues.
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Well with a child distant from his/her parent that child will in some sort miss out on the parent figure and try out some things it is a no-brainer. They will pick up this from those around them and even replicate what they see their parents do at home in schools. - Toxic Environment
Toxicity coming out from boarding school now is more than the advantages. “I think the mysterious death of Sylvester Oromoni, the 12-year-old student of Dowen College, should elicit a debate on the relevance of boarding school in this age. “The horrible stories of bullying, cheating and stealing, perpetrated in boarding schools I’ve heard from those who attended boarding schools, cannot encourage me to send my children to boarding school no matter how well packaged they are. “An environment full of fear, bullying, intimidation and oppression, cannot produce brilliant children. - Social Media
Kids nowadays learn a lot of things online, both good and bad. This makes it easy for them to learn certain dire things and boarding schools are an easy place to practice some of these things.
Unlike other schools, boarding students, apart from having classes together, eat and live in the same house. Most times, they are only separated when they all go home to their parents or guardians during holidays.
While there is no way to make a broad conclusion as to whether boarding schools are good or bad, some recent developments in Nigeria have triggered public outrage as many share their experiences.
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