School talk by Sebenza SAPS
Sebenza SAPS has called on the community, teachers and parents to work together to keep children safe.
Sebenza SAPS has called on the community, teachers and parents to work together to keep children safe.
They have also urged parents to take precautions to ensure their children’s safety.
On May 30, Sebenza SAPS conducted a talk at Edleen Primary School about safety and bullying.
Sebenza SAPS spokesperson, Sergeant Sharon Tsotsotso, said they decided to conduct this talk because they had received reports that bullying was taking place at the school.
“We have received reports about learners who are bullying teachers and other learners and decided to start this initiative. Another issue is the problem of children who have gone missing in the country in the last few months. Some of them have been found killed. Its important for us to make sure that the children are safe, whether they are in school or in the communities where they live,” said Tsotsotso.
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She said the talk was also about talking to the learners about the consequences of bullying and how they can keep safe.
“Edleen was identified as one of the problematic schools in our area and we decided to start there. There is a learner at the school who was reported to us because he slapped one of the teachers. Another issue is drugs and alcohol, which are a big problem at the school,” said Tsotsotso.
She urged parents to stop giving children a lot of money to carry to school, because she said they don’t know what to do with it and end up buying drugs.
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“Parents must talk to their children about the consequences of their behaviour because some parents don’t even go to the school when they have been called to talk about their children’s behaviour. That becomes a big problem because the teachers cannot do it alone. It’s important for parents to be involved in their children’s lives. They must discipline their children and also search their school bags on a regular basis,” said Tsotsotso.
She said another issue they were trying to address was children’s safety, as they had recently had a case in which a child was allegedly raped by a school transport driver.
“We also spoke to the learners not to trust strangers, even their transport drivers. If a learner is the only one left in the transport, they must pay attention in order for them to notice when the driver is taking an unfamiliar route or going in another direction. If the driver takes a different route, they should find out why and where he/she is going and scream if they have to, in order to alert other motorists,” said Tsotsotso.
Tsotsotso said they will be visiting other schools in the area over the coming weeks to conduct similar talks.
