Uncircumcised Boys Sent Home From School

February 12, 2007

Comments

Twenty boys at Kiriani secondary school in Kenya’s Eastern Province were sent home and told not to come back until they were circumcised. Officials cited fears they would be bullied by other students.

The BBC report fails to answer the obvious question: How did they come to learn which boys to send home?

7 responses to “Uncircumcised Boys Sent Home From School”

spacemonkey

February 12, 2007 at 10:02 pm

Inspections like that are a normal part of the pubic school system.
chsw

February 12, 2007 at 10:47 pm

Is there a mohel in Mombasa?
John Burgess

February 13, 2007 at 12:28 am

The wearing of clothes by small children–up to the age at which one starts school–is rather optional in many parts of the world. Circumcision, too, is widely practiced, not only by Jews, Muslims, and 80% of Americans.
James Joyner

February 13, 2007 at 6:34 am

The wearing of clothes by small children—up to the age at which one starts school—is rather optional in many parts of the world.

True enough. It may be a language thing: I took “secondary school” to mean “high school.”

Circumcision, too, is widely practiced, not only by Jews, Muslims, and 80% of Americans.

Well, presumably not 80% of Americans, what with half of them being women:) But, heck, I’m circumcised. I just find it mildly amusing that they’re checking for it at school.
AllenS

February 13, 2007 at 6:34 am

It’s called “short arms inspection”. We had them when I was in the Army. They were checking for VD.
Keith

February 14, 2007 at 12:36 am

That’s sad that the schools can decide whether parents have genital mutilation… I mean, circumcision, performed on their children.

And it’s not hard to tell if someone’s circumcised; just look down in the showers (assuming they have PE in Kenya).
jorgem

February 14, 2007 at 5:32 pm

And parents are worried about their kids being bullied. Who would have thought it would be the school administrator?

I hope the parents find another school. Circumcision should be reserved for fetishist adults and as a medical treatment of last resort. It should never be required for anything.