Kenya (Commonwealth Union) – A new study has highlighted the impact of media coverage of terrorist attacks on Kenya’s education sector. The threat of terrorism, including terrorist kidnappings, is particularly high in the country, with the most recent attack launched by al-Shabaab, one of the biggest threats to the security of East Africa. The terrorist organisation, which frequently launches attacks in Somalia, is believed to have crossed over from Somalia into Kenya to carry out the abduction which included, two paramedics, a driver and a patient.
A new study carried out by Lancaster University Management School, UK and Bocconi University in Italy revealed that Kenyan parents accessing mass media demonstrated a greater fear of terrorism, which has a significant impact on school enrollment in the country. It was discovered that the fear of the risk of their children’s death in a terrorist attack is 12 times more than actual rates, which has led to parents often keeping their children away from school.
Comparing school admission rates over time, the findings revealed that the negative consequences of terrorist attacks on school admission is two times greater for children using mass media, than for children without access.
Co-author of the, study Dr Marco Alfano from the Lancaster University Management School, stated that terrorism is different to the other forms of violence like war or gun crime, in that it leads to relatively low casualty numbers bringing about lower damage to infrastructure. Nevertheless, terrorism can severely impact economies by raising fears. Researchers pointed out that families with no media access react for the most part to attacks nearer to their homes, whereas families accessing media keep their children out of school in response to terrorist attacks occurring over 100km away.
“Our results could serve as a caution against sensationalism and in favour of moderate and fact-oriented reporting of terrorist events. Providing children with fast, reliable and secure transport to school may also mitigate some of these negative effects. These changes would likely make a considerable difference to children’s education and Kenya’s long-term growth and development,” Dr Alfano said.
