| dc.description.abstract | School unrest is a concern worldwide today. Unrest in Kenyan secondary schools has been on the rise despite measures put in place to curb it. Kisii County has not been spared. Reports from Kisii County Educational Directorate indicate that in 2017 students in Kisii County secondary schools were arrested with jerry cans of petrol intending to burn down the school. In 2018, 5 students sustained minor injuries when 2 dormitories caught fire after students demonstrated due to bad diet while others destroyed the administration block, setting ablaze property belonging to 198 students and baying for the principals` blood. Further reports in 2021 indicate that there were: 7 cases of unrest compared to Migori County which had 2 cases, Bomet County which had 3 cases and Kericho County which had 5 cases. In addition, a Form Three student attacked two teachers while being punished for missing evening studies. Before the attack, the student had been asked to kneel as part of the disciplinary process. This study was to establish the influence of Students` mental health and school climate on student unrest in secondary schools in Kisii County, Kenya based on the following specific objectives; establish the influence of mental health variables on student unrest, determine the influence of school climate variables on student unrest, establish strategies students use to cope with mental health issues and to establish the mechanisms used by schools in addressing issues that lead to unrest. The study employed the Social Control Theory by Ivan Nye, the Strain theory by Robert Merton, and a conceptual framework that described how the variables interacted. Descriptive survey and correlational research designs were employed. The population comprised of 30,955 form 2 students, 350 deputy principals, and 350 class teachers. Yamane’s formula was used to determine 395 students and a stratified random sampling technique was used to select 105 deputy principals and 105 class teachers. Questionnaires, an interview schedule, and a rating scale were used to collect data. 10% of the sample size was used for piloting. The reliability of the instruments was of R-values as follows .83, .78, and .79 respectively. The validity of the instruments was ascertained by experts. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data was transcribed, put into various categories, and reported in an ongoing process. Findings from the study indicated that most students in schools had moderate type of depression. Students who had Cognitive depression were 96.2%, mood were100% and 92.3% had motivation depression. The key strategies students used to address their mental health issues were reaching out to parents (89.1%) and seeing teachers for help (86. 8%). The last strategy was seeing the school counselor (19.2%). Adhering to school rules was the most preferred mechanism schools used to address issues contributing to unrest(96%), the least approach was involving students in making school rules (0%). The study further found that the cognitive aspect of depression had a weak negative correlation (rho= -.34, p= .047): a weak positive correlation for academic stress (rho= .11) and a positive correlation for school learning environment (rho=.05); the cognitive aspect of depression significantly influenced unrest (β=3.057,p=.047) and learning environment(β=2.039,p=.048). The study concluded that the cognitive aspect had a statistically significant negative correlation: academic stress had a non-significant weak positive correlation and the learning environment had a positive correlation. The study recommended that schools should address issues that are likely to contribute to cognitive depression, and students to be encouraged to seek counseling services. | en_US |
