Abstract:
Graffiti take the form of written language whose authorship remains mostly anonymous. It precisely, refers to any wall writing, pictures and symbols or markings of any kind on any surface anywhere no matter what motivates the writer. Most graffiti are viewed as illegal or vandalism of property by those in authority. Secondary school students use graffiti codes as a form of communication when they feel other channels to express themselves, have been blocked by those in authority. This study aimed at analyzing the reaction of school administrators towards graffiti writing and establishes the gender difference in graffiti writing in secondary schools in Kenya. Graffiti texts were collected in ten secondary schools in Laikipia County in Kenya, and purposively sampled. Out of one thousand graffiti texts collected, two hundred were randomly sampled for analysis. Twenty English language teachers were purposively sampled to take part in an interview. One hundred students were randomly sampled to fill in questionnaires. A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was carried out with another group of five students randomly sampled across the classes, in each of the ten schools, making a total of fifty. The data collected were analyzed qualitatively to arrive at inferences and conclusions. The findings of the study were that some school administrators viewed graffiti as an important source of valued information while others viewed it as a nuisance and vandalism of school property. It was also established that boys wrote graffiti differently from girls in terms of the way each gender expressed itself. Students use graffiti to communicate information that would be beneficial to the school administrators, quality assurance and standards officers, student's counselors, policy makers and other stakeholders. Classroom teachers may also refer to graffiti to establish the unspoken student's problems, thereby preventing entropy of the school system. |
International Journal of Social Science & Economic Research
