Violence: ‘Schools are a microcosm of the bigger society,’ according to experts

The increase in violent incidents being reported at schools is a reflection of the increase in violence in communities, experts say.

Criminologist professor Jaco Barkhuizen said crime and victimisation incidences in schools were escalating.

“Schools are a microcosm of the bigger society,” he said. Barkhuizen said violence directed at pupils and teachers should be condemned.

“All police and education resources should be used to ensure that schools are safe places of learning.”

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Violence and victimisation common

Barkhuizen said South Africa might follow the United States as a country where violence and victimisation have become commonplace at schools.

Last week, an intruder was shot by a teacher at the Kagiso Senior Secondary School on the West Rand, after allegedly drawing a knife on another teacher.

Congress of South African Trade Unions Gauteng chair Amos Monyela said the federation was perturbed by the recent increase of killings and attacks at schools.

Unsafe

Monyela said schools have become places of appalling incidents, such as gangsterism, bullying and murder, and playgrounds for drug dealers, while parents expect these institutions to be a safe environment that transforms their children into the hopes of South Africa’s future.

“The recent stabbing incident at Geluksdal Secondary School in Brakpan has shaken the country, while pupils have to bear the brunt of the subsequent trauma,” he said.

He added the gruesome killing of Tshwane University of Technology student Ntokozo Xaba “left the nation outraged and hurt at the fact that our justice system is still failing on gender-based violence”.

Chris Klopper, South African Teachers’ Union chief executive, said it was appalling that attacks were happening on school premises.

“Schools must be places of safety and not of violence. “Schools reflect what is happening in communities.”

Klopper said government had a duty to create safe working conditions and ensure access control to schools was checked.

Sadtu ‘shocked’

The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) has expressed shock at the increase of incidents of violence in schools. Sadtu spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said these incidents indicated that schools were no longer the safe havens they were supposed to be.

“Schools endanger the lives of pupils and teachers,” she said. The Democratic Alliance’s Gauteng shadow MEC for education, Khume Ramulifho, said there was no effective safety strategy in the province to prevent violence, intimidation, bullying, vandalism, theft and gangsterism in schools.

“This will require the involvement of law enforcement agencies and psychosocial support, as many teachers weren’t trained to deal with certain behaviours.

Teachers are trained to teach,” Ramulifho said. He said the department of basic education must ensure that the environment is conducive to learning and teaching.

“The department must stop being reactive and be proactive,” Ramulifho said.

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