Should media ignore news of students burning dorms to avoid the copycats?
Bomet East MP Beatrice Kones speaks to journalists at Matarmat Primary School, where a classroom, head teacher’s office and library were burnt down in a suspected case of arson on September 10, 2021.
Photo credit: Vitalis Kimutai | Nation Media Group
Senator Johnson Sakaja is not the first public figure to blame the media for the wave of school fires.
In 2016, Catholic bishops said their investigation showed that media reports might be triggering copycat arsonists.
Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja wants the media to limit the publicity they give to the torching of schools. He told the Senate on Tuesday that when students see the publicity, they also want to torch their own school “because it’s cool.” He spoke following the burning of a dormitory in Buruburu Girls High School, Nairobi, on Sunday.
Screaming students were seen jumping from second- and third floor windows as smoke engulfed the dormitory. “The problem is when we start reporting on these fires,” Mr Sakaja said. “They say ‘have you seen Buruburu Girls? When are we doing ours?’”
