Online Reporter
Gabriel Manyeruke
The child who says nothing may be saying everything.
What if the child sitting quietly in the classroom today is fighting a battle no adult knows about? What if the learner who suddenly withdraws from friends, loses interest in school or becomes unusually quiet is not simply being “difficult” or “moody”, but is silently asking for help?
These are uncomfortable questions we cannot afford to ignore.
Recent reports of two learner suicides within days — involving a Form One learner from Zimuto High School who had reportedly resisted returning to boarding school and a teenager from Dzivaresekwa who died following a breakdown in a relationship — have once again placed learner mental well-being under the national spotlight.
Beyond the circumstances surrounding individual tragedies lies a much bigger question: Are we doing enough to ensure that our children have somewhere safe to turn before despair becomes fatal?
The danger beneath the silence
Every learner suicide leaves behind more than a statistic.
There is a grieving family searching for answers, classmates carrying trauma, teachers wondering whether they missed warning signs and a society forced to ask whether something could have been done differently.
The danger is that adults often notice children only when their behaviour becomes disruptive.
We respond when a learner stops attending lessons, performs poorly, fights with peers or breaks school rules. Yet distress does not always announce itself dramatically.
Sometimes it looks like silence, withdrawal or a learner sitting quietly at the back of the classroom. Sadly, warning signs are often recognised only after it is too late.
Are our schools safe enough?
Zimbabwean schools have counselling structures, disciplinary systems and teachers who genuinely care about learners. However, having structures is not necessarily the same as having an effective safeguarding culture.
A counselling office is useful only if a learner feels safe enough to enter it. A reporting mechanism matters only if children trust that they will be believed. A teacher may recognise poor academic performance, but can that same teacher recognise emotional distress?
These questions deserve serious national attention. Safeguarding cannot be left to the school counsellor alone. Every adult who interacts with children should understand that protecting a learner is part of their responsibility.
At our school in Marondera, for example, every member of staff — including teachers and sports coaches — has undergone safeguarding and child-protection training and received certification.
The importance of such training goes beyond certificates.
It creates a school environment where every adult is better equipped to recognise vulnerability, respond appropriately and escalate concerns when necessary. This is the kind of proactive culture local schools should increasingly embrace.
We tell children to speak — but do we listen? We frequently tell children to “speak up”, but perhaps we should first ask ourselves whether we have created environments worth speaking up in.
A child who expects ridicule, punishment or dismissal may choose silence. A learner who believes reporting bullying will make matters worse may remain quiet. A teenager afraid that revealing a relationship problem will result in condemnation may tell nobody. Telling children to speak is only half the solution; we must also teach adults to listen. Listening does not mean approving every decision a child makes. It means creating enough trust for a child to tell the truth before a crisis escalates.
The home is the first safety net
Schools cannot carry this responsibility alone. The home is often the first place where distress should be detected, yet fear can sometimes make communication difficult. Parents understandably want disciplined, responsible and successful children, but discipline without dialogue can create distance.
A child who fears being shouted at for poor marks may hide academic struggles. One who expects punishment for discussing relationships may conceal emotional problems. A child afraid of being blamed may remain silent about bullying or abuse.
The answer is not permissiveness, but trust combined with boundaries. Parents must create homes where children understand that telling the truth will not automatically make them unsafe.
Listening is not weakness — it is protection.
Empathy as a life skill
We must also confront the cruelty children can inflict upon one another. Mocking a learner because of poverty, appearance, academic performance, family circumstances or perceived differences should never be dismissed as “children being children”.
Bullying and cyberbullying can follow a child beyond the school gate and into the bedroom through a mobile phone. Schools must, therefore, teach more than examination content. They must deliberately cultivate empathy, respect, responsible digital behaviour and the courage to intervene when another learner is being harmed.
Empathy is not merely a soft skill; in some circumstances, it can be a life-saving skill.
From reaction to prevention
The greatest mistake would be to wait for another tragedy before strengthening safeguarding systems. Schools need continuous safeguarding training for staff, accessible counselling services and multiple trusted channels through which learners can report concerns.
Parents need practical guidance on communicating with teenagers, while schools should strengthen peer-support initiatives and confront bullying decisively. Most importantly, safeguarding must become part of the culture rather than an emergency response activated after tragedy strikes.
Every child deserves a safe adult
We may never eliminate every difficulty young people face.
Children will experience rejection, academic pressure, friendship problems, family difficulties, disappointment and failure. What society can influence is whether a child faces those difficulties alone.
Every learner should know at least one adult they can approach without fear. Every school should have systems capable of detecting vulnerability before a crisis occurs. Every parent should understand that a difficult conversation today may prevent an unimaginable conversation tomorrow. And every teacher should remember that the child before them is not merely a candidate preparing for an examination, but a human being carrying fears, hopes, insecurities and dreams.
Listening before silence becomes tragedy
Learner suicide should never become another recurring headline that briefly shocks the nation before disappearing from public attention.
Every child lost represents a family shattered, classmates traumatised and a future that will never unfold.
The real measure of our education system is not only how many learners pass examinations, but whether children feel safe enough to ask for help, brave enough to tell the truth and confident enough to believe that someone will listen.
As educators, parents and members of society, we must ask ourselves one uncomfortable question: Are we listening to our children or are we simply waiting for them to become loud enough to hear?
If silence can conceal suffering, then listening must become one of our most important forms of safeguarding.
By the time a child’s pain becomes a headline, it may already be too late.
Gabriel Manyeruke is an author and educator at Wise Owl High School in Marondera. Feedback: [email protected]
