Police step into schools in KwaDukuza

With about 15 pupils arrested by Umhlali police since the beginning of the year, the police are getting more involved with schools to help teachers solve issues arising from an apparent lack of discipline.

Umhlali SAPS spokesperson Vinny Pillay said they were seeing badly behaved pupils throughout their area, stretching from Upper Tongaat to Etete.

“Bullying and drug abuse is becoming a serious problem. Children have no respect for their teachers’ authority and this is mainly why we are stepping in.

“Surprisingly, the bullying does not just apply to pupils bullying other pupils. There are also cases of pupils bullying teachers. There have been instances where teachers have been badly assaulted. Schools can no longer handle the pupils on their own.”

Pillay said Umhlali police are doing random school visits were they give talks to pupils on their behaviour. They are also searching pupils at random.

Drug abuse is a major contributing factor to pupils’ bad behavior.

“Pupils cannot concentrate on their school work if they are worried about their next fix.

“They also get violent when they are drunk or high. Children as young as ten years old are either using or selling drugs in school.

“The problem is escalating because drug dealers are getting young kids to sell drugs, because who would suspect a child? This is why our random searches are so important. We often find alcohol, woonga and dagga at schools,” said Pillay.

Recently two schools in KwaDukuza have been in the news for pupils’ behaviour.

Three weeks ago The Courier reported on an incident of bullying at Stanger Manor Secondary where a new pupil to the school was brutally beaten up by a classmate.

Last week pupils from Glenhills Secondary school in Stanger were caught drinking at the school. In this case the pupils were discovered by a passerby who reportedly saw the pupils drinking and kissing.

However, the story morphed into a tale that one of the girls was gang raped by her fellow pupils and this story went viral.

KZN MEC for Education’s media liaison Kwazi Mthetwa said the story was false and blown out of proportion.

“The girl felt pressured by the community to go to the police station and open a case of rape. On medical investigation, it was found that there was no sign of penetration,” he said.

The KZN education department agrees that some pupils are getting out of hand. Mthethwa said they are taking matters of discipline in schools seriously.

“Where there are reports of bad behavior we send members from the department to investigate the school. We are also appointing psychologists to schools with troublesome pupils,” said Mthethwa.

However, a high school teacher at a school in Shakaskraal, who did not wish to be named, said discipline was a problem that needed to be tackled at home first.

“Parents think the school is a crêche. When pupils do something wrong the teachers and the school are immediately under fire.

“People need to ask themselves why pupils behave badly. The truth of the matter is that they are not taught discipline and manners at home. It should not be ‘It is a bad school’ – rather say ‘he comes from a bad home’,” he said.

The message Umhlali SAPS want to bring home to unruly pupils is that their behavior could seriously affect their future.

“If pupils want to behave like criminals then we will treat them as such. Pupils will still be handed over to a social worker but when they are arrested at school they will be taken to the police station, detained and their fingerprints will be taken, regardless of their age.

“A criminal record will stick for the rest of their lives. Parents who want the best for their children should see this as a warning.

“They need to step in line and work closely with schools to monitor their children.

“It is a shared responsibility,” said Pillay.

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