Parents confronted with their worst fears

Like many of our readers, the GCN has been following the recent Carte Blanche exposé (October 5) on child abuse in day care centres around Johannesburg.

Smiley Kids Primrose was one of the school’s named in the show and a former teacher was caught on CCTV, continuously giving the children in her class hidings.

The footage also showed the teacher hitting the children with a plastic cricket bat and instructing them to stand with their hands on their heads for long periods of time.

The GCN approached the school for comment on the matter.

We spoke to Gerhard van der Merwe, of Van der Merwe Attorneys Notaries and Conveyancers Inc, who represents the school.

He offered the GCN some insight into a very complicated situation.

Q: Did the school report the incidents of abuse to the police?

A: No. The CCTV footage that was used to sensational ends was given to the parent in question to enable her to use it as supporting evidence when laying a charge with the SAPS.

Q: What action was taken against the teacher after the CCTV footage was viewed by the principal/owner, Hermien Kruger?

A: The teacher was called to a disciplinary enquiry, where she pleaded guilty and, taking all factors into consideration, including a personal tragedy with which she was struggling at the time, and on the advice of the labour broker who is used for, inter alia, facilitating disciplinary hearings, she was given a final written warning.

Q: What steps were taken to ensure an incident like this didn’t happen again?

A: All staff members were called to a meeting and were reminded of their obligations in terms of the school’s policy and their employment agreements, and were advised that there will be zero tolerance for future incidents of abuse, which was reinforced with the dismissal of another teacher early this year.

Q: Did any of the parents of the children seen being abused in the CCTV footage open a case against the school and/or teacher?

If so do you have information on what is currently happening with the investigation?

A: My client is unaware of this, but the school will grant the SAPS any requested assistance in this regard.

There may be additional charges after the broadcast brought by some parents; however, no requests for information have been received.

Q: In regard to the latest incident (reported to have happened about a month ago, where a child bit another child in the teacher’s classroom), what happened that the teacher received a warning – surely it would be the children who should be punished for an incident such as this?

Was it the teacher’s reaction to the incident that was punished?

A: This issue was misreported by Carte Blanche, notwithstanding my client’s advice to the contrary. The issue was at the time addressed with the children and the children’s parents. The one child’s father accepted it as one of those things that children do and hoped his child would grow out of it, with the necessary guidance, and left it at that. The other signed an incident report as is the school’s usual policy.

Q: When did Hermien Kruger call a school meeting?

A: The Monday after the broadcast, as she was under the impression Carte Blanche would give her fair warning of the broadcast as requested by her previous attorney.

As it was school holidays, she intended to make contact with all parents when the term resumed and those who were on holiday returned.

Q: Has the teacher’s resignation been accepted?

A: Yes. Since the broadcast the teacher has received death threats and was left very distraught about the comments regarding, inter alia, her sexuality, that were posted on Carte Blanche’s website, and did not wish to subject herself to further abuse.

Q: Was the public outcry a deciding in factor in the school’s decision to institute disciplinary action against the teacher?

A: No, the teacher was suspended as a result of her utterances that she is unaware that corporal punishment is illegal, which caused damage to the name of the school, notwithstanding the fact that it is, inter alia, addressed in her employment agreement. An investigation would have followed, whereafter a decision would have been made whether to charge her or not, which may or may not, depending on the decision, have been followed by a disciplinary hearing, the outcome of which cannot be predetermined.

Q: Will further action be taken against the teacher?

A: The employment relationship is terminated and there is no point starting the process to decide on whether a disciplinary hearing is appropriate at this point in time.

Q: What measures has the school put in place to avoid incidents of child abuse in the future?

A: There is currently a dialogue process in place, where parents are invited to make suggestions, either directly or even anonymously by way of a suggestion box. Some are already being investigated and feedback will be given to the parents at a further meeting to be scheduled in the coming weeks.

Many angry community members took to Facebook to vent their frustrations:

Monique Smith commented: “She can be very glad it wasn’t my child, I would’ve knocked her out with that cricket bat.

“I don’t understand why you become a teacher just to hurt little kids and moan the whole day.

“If teachers aren’t urging parents to put their normal kids on Ritalin then they do this.

“Teachers are sometimes worse bullies than any fellow student could ever be.”

“Boycott the school. Parents should remove their kids and they will be forced to close down,” said Leilani Kermis.

Jaco Stapelberg offered a different outlook: “I must add one comment.

“Carte Blanche reported on two cases, however, the one which drew the most attention is the one where there is an identifiable source; the one about the ‘Goggo’ who basically forced kids to have sex with each other and manufactured child pornography doesn’t even get a second glance.

“Weird how humanity operates.”

These are just few examples of the comments that have appeared on social media platforms.

What are your thoughts on this situation?

Do you think the school handled the situation in the correct way?