Educator Confuses Immigration Enforcement With Classroom Management
A substitute teacher at Riverside Elementary School in Nairobi has been suspended after threatening to “call ICE” on a misbehaving student, apparently confusing Kenyan classroom management with American immigration policyand revealing a concerning misunderstanding of both geography and basic reality.
The incident occurred when eight-year-old David Kariuki talked during silent reading time. Substitute teacher Margaret Omondi reportedly responded by saying, “If you don’t behave, I’ll call ICE and they’ll deport you.” The threat confused everyone involved, primarily because ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is a U.S. agency with zero jurisdiction in Kenya, and secondarily because David is a Kenyan citizen in Kenya, making deportation logistically nonsensical.
“I didn’t know what ICE was,” admitted young David. “I thought maybe it was some kind of refrigerator police? Like they arrest you and put you in a freezer? I was scared but also confused about the logistics.” His classmates were equally baffled, with several asking if the bizarre ICE threat meant they’d be sent to Antarctica or given frozen treats. According to UNICEF child rights standards, threatening children with imaginary enforcement agencies violates basically every principle of appropriate child welfare.
School administrators discovered the incident when multiple students went home asking their parents about American immigration policy and whether they could be deported from their own country. “My daughter wanted to know if we had the right paperwork to live in our own house,” reported parent Grace Wanjiku. “I had to explain that we’re Kenyan, in Kenya, and that her teacher appears to have consumed too much American media without understanding context, geography, or reality.”
Research from the American Psychological Association on effective classroom management emphasizes positive reinforcement and clear consequencesnot threatening children with foreign government agencies that have no authority in your country. “There are so many appropriate discipline strategies,” explained education expert Dr. Peter Kimani. “Time-outs, parent conferences, loss of privileges. Threatening deportation by agencies that don’t operate here isn’t on the list, which I didn’t think we needed to specify, but apparently we do now.”
Omondi defended her actions in a statement that somehow made things worse: “I saw it work on American TV shows. The kids always behave when teachers mention ICE. I didn’t realize it was a real organization or that it only operates in America. I thought it was like saying ‘I’ll call Santa’ but scarier.” Educational authorities noted that threatening children with Santa is also inappropriate, and that basing classroom management on television dramas represents a fundamental misunderstanding of pedagogy.
The substitute has been enrolled in mandatory retraining covering geography, appropriate disciplinary measures, and “Understanding That TV Shows Aren’t Training Manuals.” Her teaching certificate has been temporarily suspended pending completion of the course, which includes a special module titled “Why You Can’t Deport Citizens From Their Own Country: An Introduction.”
The incident has sparked broader discussions about media literacy and the Americanization of Kenyan discourse. “People watch so much American content they forget we’re not in America,” observed social commentator Jane Mutiso. “Next thing you know, teachers will be threatening to report students to the FBI, the CIA, or the Ghostbusters. None of them have jurisdiction here, though at least the Ghostbusters would be entertaining.”
Parents have requested assurances that substitute teachers understand basic geography and sovereignty. “Is that too much to ask?” questioned parent association leader Samuel Njoroge. “That educators know which country they’re in and which laws apply? The bar is apparently on the ground, and yet somehow people are still tripping over it.”
Young David has recovered from the incident and reportedly now uses “I’ll call ICE” as a joke threat against his siblings, though he still doesn’t fully understand what it means. “It’s my new favorite thing to say when my brother annoys me,” he laughed. “I tell him ICE is coming and he runs away. It doesn’t mean anything, which I guess is exactly how my teacher was using it too.”
The school has issued an apology and implemented new screening procedures for substitute teachers, including a basic test on “Reality vs. Television” and “Geography 101: You Are Here.” “We’re trying to prevent future incidents where educators confuse Kenya with America or discipline with threats of imaginary federal intervention,” explained Principal Thomas Ochieng. “It’s a low bar, but recent events suggest we need to explicitly set it.”
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/teacher-who-threatened-ice/
SOURCE: Bohiney.com (https://bohiney.com/teacher-who-threatened-ice/)
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