On The Frontline With Boma
The recent viral video from Starville School, Abuja, has reopened an old wound in our national conscience — the wound of collapsing discipline and the slow but steady erosion of respect for authority. In the clip, a student is seen pushing his teacher back not once, but twice. The teacher, clearly frustrated and shocked that a child would dare, responds with a slap. Moments later, the parents of the student storm into the school and, in a disturbing twist, slap the same teacher despite his attempts to apologise. The entire episode, barely a few seconds long, says far more about Nigeria today than any long political commentary could.
As I watched that video, I could not help but reflect on the kind of Nigeria that raised us — a Nigeria where schools shaped character and the home reinforced it; where teachers commanded a natural respect and parents supported them; where correcting a child was seen as an act of responsibility, not an attack. Those days look like a different civilisation now.
Growing up, school was a place of both learning and discipline. Teachers were not just instructors; they were custodians of order. They maintained the boundaries that allowed learning to take place. I still remember vividly one incident from my junior secondary school days. During a compulsory siesta for boarding students, the hunger that only adolescence can explain pushed me to do the unthinkable. I slipped through the perimeter fence to buy bread because I could not stomach the beans served that afternoon. I was caught. And for that misadventure, I was made to wash the turins — the large, soot-darkened pots and utensils — for three days.
At the time, it felt like a mountain. My arms hurt. My pride hurt even more. Yet, looking back, those were moments that shaped us. The punishment did not break us; it made us. It taught consequences. It instilled caution. It reminded us that rules exist for a reason. More importantly, it taught respect for authority — something that seems scarce today.
That is why the actions of the Starville student and his parents raise troubling questions. What kind of upbringing emboldens a child to push a teacher? What kind of parenting produces adults who believe the appropriate response is to march to a school and physically assault a teacher? And what kind of society normalises this behaviour?
It is tempting to blame the child alone, but the deeper issue lies in the home. Parenting today, for many households, has shifted dramatically from the firm but loving approach of past generations to a style defined by indulgence, defensiveness, and sometimes outright negligence. Many parents now defend their children even when they are clearly in the wrong. Instead of reinforcing discipline, they undermine it. Instead of supporting the school, they fight it. And instead of acknowledging their failure, they shift blame to teachers who already work under difficult conditions.
Training begins at home long before a child ever meets a teacher. The values of respect, restraint, humility, and obedience are first taught within the four walls of the family. A child who does not learn respect at home will not suddenly display it at school. Teachers are not magicians; they cannot transform a child overnight. They can only build on what a parent has already laid. If a parent sends a child to school without discipline, the school is already handicapped.
The Starville incident also exposes a broader problem: the declining authority of teachers in Nigerian society. In the past, a teacher’s word commanded respect. Parents believed teachers were partners in raising responsible adults. But today, teachers are viewed with suspicion. Some parents treat teachers as hired labour whose job is to indulge, not mould, their children. That mentality has produced a generation of children who believe correction is optional and authority is negotiable.
A society that disrespects its teachers is a society in decline. Teachers are nation-builders. They shape every profession, every leader, every career, every dream. They are the backbone of any civilisation. When teachers are humiliated, attacked, or rendered powerless, the ripple effects are devastating. The Starville incident is not an isolated one; it is a symptom of a deeper moral illness that we have refused to confront.
And this moral decay is not limited to schools. The behaviour of that child and his parents mirrors the behaviour we see daily in our society. A growing number of young people lack patience, humility, and self-control. They challenge authority at every turn, sometimes violently. They believe that any form of correction is an insult. They crave freedom without responsibility, rights without duties, and privileges without effort. They are products of homes that have normalised excess freedom and zero accountability.
Yet, the society they are growing into is also complicit. We now celebrate audacity without substance. We applaud arrogance as boldness. We encourage shortcuts instead of diligence. We defend wrongdoing because the offender is “our own.” Even on social media, indiscipline is rewarded with attention, likes, and followers. The behaviours we reinforce are the behaviours children copy.
This is why a school like Starville must be commended for taking decisive action. Expelling the student and banning the parents from accessing the school sends a clear message: indiscipline has consequences. Schools must protect their teachers. They must not allow violent parents to intimidate educators who are dedicating their lives to shaping the next generation. Without firm disciplinary policies, schools will become lawless spaces where learning cannot thrive.
The Starville response should become a national template. Every school in Nigeria should adopt policies that clearly spell out consequences for violence against teachers, verbal abuse, and undue interference by parents. Teachers must feel safe. Parents must understand boundaries. Students must learn respect. And schools must find the courage to stand firm, even when parents wield social status or financial power.
But even the best policies will fail without parents doing their part. Homes must return to the basics. Children must be taught limits. They must be told “no.” They must learn that actions have consequences. They must see examples of humility, patience, and self-control from the adults around them. A child who grows up in a home without order becomes an adult who enters society without direction.
It is often said that children are the leaders of tomorrow. But that tomorrow depends on the kind of children we raise today. An indisciplined child becomes a dangerous adult. A child who pushes a teacher today may push a police officer tomorrow. A child who cannot take correction today may struggle to respect the law tomorrow. The cost of poor parenting is always paid by society.
We must therefore make a collective decision as a country to restore discipline — not the abusive, dehumanising version that scars children, but the firm, consistent, principle-driven discipline that builds character and preserves society. Discipline is not brutality. Correction is not oppression. A responsible adult is rarely the product of an excessively permissive childhood.
The Starville incident is more than a schoolyard altercation. It is a mirror held up to our society, revealing uncomfortable truths about the values we have abandoned. It is a reminder that the home and the school must work together. It is a warning that when parents sabotage discipline, they sabotage their children’s future. And it is a lesson that if we continue to raise children without boundaries, we will soon find ourselves unable to govern the adults they become.
Nigeria needs a moral reset. We need to restore respect for teachers. We need to empower schools. We need to support discipline. And we need to remind parents that raising a child is not an act of indulgence but of responsibility. If we fail to address these issues now, we will one day wake up to a society we no longer recognise — a society where chaos is normalised and order is a relic.
Let the Starville incident be a turning point. Let it force families to re-examine their priorities. Let it challenge schools to protect their teachers. Let it encourage communities to restore values. And let it remind every parent that the child you refuse to discipline today may become the adult society cannot control tomorrow.
On The Frontline With Boma is published by The Port Harcourt Telegraph Newspaper authored by the Managing Editor.
