A member of the Youth Desk in the Alex cluster of the Community Police Forum has expressed concern about the infiltration of drugs, other contraband and dangerous weapons into schools.
Lerato Mpherwane was part of the police team that raided Alex High and discovered an assortment of undesired items which she said reflected the society the children came from.
They confiscated knives, dangerous metal objects, and hidden drugs and cigarettes which were found by sniffer dogs. “The children should not be able to bring such items to school without the knowledge of parents, guardians and the community which stand by and do nothing,” she said. “Most of the parents don’t even attend school meetings.”
She admonished parents for letting their children loiter in the streets in uniforms while others were in class. Mpherwane said the drug dealers where well-known in the community who pried on children, but parents did not seem to be concerned. “Why not protect your children by reporting the dealers to the police?” she lamented.
She added that punitive measures administered for transgressing school rules weren’t a deterrent. Mpherwane suggested police lock up truant pupils and parents could collect them. Other measures could be community service work and forced attendance of drug awareness programmes for those caught with the substances.
“If sterner measures are not instituted, the learned behaviour of substance abuse and violence will result in many children stealing to maintain their drug habit and getting into serious crimes and violence leading to imprisonment.”
Mpherwane further complained of some teachers’ cosy relationships with pupils resulting in their failure to enforce discipline.
Details: Lerato Mpherwane:
