West African rap stars promote the campaign against violence

In exclusive interviews with Plan, Smarty and Smockey, two of West Africa’s biggest rap stars, talked about violence against children and their support for Plan’s global ‘Learn Without Fear’ campaign.

Smarty says: We were all children once, which means that any action to support the development of children really gets our attention. When I was at school, there was violence, and even those who were supposed to teach you would use the whip. As a consequence, you didn’t want to go to school the day after. School had become a nightmare. I don’t think the whip is compatible with education.  I want to tell our partners to continue to support the Learn Without Fear campaign, because it’s very important for the African continent.

My message to politicians is to remember that before becoming president, minister or deputy, they were all children…They must think “How could I improve the situation?” 

Smockey says: I was a witness of what violence could be at school…We used to be ‘corrected’ with strips of tyre. We used to call it ‘Mamadou’. If you weren’t studying well, Mamadou would come into action. Even then, I thought it was a pretty horrific method to use on kids, and not at all educational. We’re living in a society where violence is everywhere…in the media, at home. Education is fundamental…school makes us what we are. If a child is beaten at school, they’ll be full of shame and vengeance. He’ll want to inflict onto others what he was subjected to at any cost, especially his own children, who will do the same to their children and so on. It’s well known that violence breeds violence. Parents need to react. Even if they have to go through the courts, parents have to do it so that teachers know they’re not there to administer physical punishment…It’s not their role 

What we need now is political will to make it happen.