The Star writes that the burning question these past few months in light of school violence has been: “What is driving bad behaviour at schools?”
While education stakeholders have differing views, they all agreed that school violence was a societal matter, deeply rooted in community dynamics.
They believed that pupils were not immune to social ills and, as a result, schools became the playground for criminals, drugs and violence.
They questioned why some schools were extremely disciplined, achieved excellent results and practised the highest ethical standards, while others in the same area were the total opposite.
The violence which broke out last month at two schools in KwaMakhutha and one in Inanda, which left three pupils dead and one injured, had raised concerns.
The fatal stabbing of a teacher in the North West last week sparked concerns of teachers working under constant fear.
Gadimang Daniel Mokolobate, 24, died after being stabbed several times in the chest last Thursday.
The incident sparked much debate on social media about what needed to be done to beef up school security.
Suggestions included that teachers be armed for their protection.
Others joked about classrooms having a fenced area between the teacher and pupils.
The Congress of SA Students (Cosas) said the level of violence at schools was a reflection of that in society.
John Macheke, Cosas president, said pupils were not immune to social ills, and as a result pupils of violent homes and violence- and drug-infested communities would take those social ills to school.
“This is a problem that is deeply rooted in our society. It does not begin at school.
“Parents should play the biggest role. The circumstances at home play the biggest part in how a pupil behaves at school.
“The problem could be that the social ills experience today are different from what children in school in 2010 experienced,” said Macheke.
Thirona Moodley, of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA, said the question was why schools in more advantaged communities were doing better in comparison with schools in poor communities.
Allen Thompson, president of the National Teachers’ Union, said the lack of security at schools perpetuated violence because pupils knew that teachers had no means to deal with them.
“Our teachers work under life-threatening situations. The lack of security drives pupils’ bad behaviour even further,” said Thompson.
He said the department had frozen security posts for many years, resulting in fewer schools with guards.
“We had proposed that each school have one guard per 300 pupils.
“We have been pleading with the department to respond to violence by making sure that schools have minimum security to prevent pupils from coming to school armed, and for the safety of both pupils and the teachers,” said Thompson.
“School safety has been neglected for too long and that is what drives pupils’ bad behaviour.”
Matakanye Matakanya, chairperson of the National Association of School Governing Bodies, said parents were concerned about school violence and urged stakeholders to come up with ways to curb it.
He agreed that it was driven by the social ills in the communities around schools and urged parents to play a role in ensuring their children did not get involved in activities that could interfere with their future.
“Children are exposed to many things that could tamper with their progress at school. Drugs, crime and violence are some of the social problems which they have to overcome,” said Matakanya.
The original of this report by Sne Masuku appeared on page 14 of The Star of 20 September 2018
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