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Crime in classrooms
13/11/2006 14:51 - (SA)
Evaton - When high school
principal Velaphi Mthembu started to get death threats and found
himself living in fear of violent skirmishes, he organised a
fierce counterattack to protect his students and staff.
Under a zero tolerance policy for criminal behaviour, pupils
at ED Mashabane Secondary School in the poor black township of
Evaton near Johannesburg were recruited to expose troublemaking
peers.
Undercover police officers were invited to hide in toilet
stalls and nab students who had skipped class to puff on
marijuana joints, and to arrest pupils who brandished weapons
like steel desk legs, broomsticks and knives.
Mthembu even ferried young offenders to the police station
in the trunk of his car.
"School enrolment has dropped to 600 from 900 students over
the last year. Most of those (dropouts) weren't learners," said
Mthembu, holding up like a trophy a cloth bag of confiscated
marijuana stored in his office filing cabinet.
"They were selling dagga (marijuana) or here to cause
trouble. When they saw I was in business with the police, they
left school. It's still a dangerous place but there is more
order."
The alarming level of classroom violence in South Africa
mirrors a wider problem in a country with some of the world's
highest rates of violent crime. Many blame the violence on
inadequate policing, a wide chasm between rich and poor and the
traumatic legacy of apartheid.
Teachers warn that schoolyard crime is contributing to the
decline in education standards, also blamed on staff shortages,
an Aids epidemic that has struck down many teachers, overcrowded
classrooms and a lack of textbooks.
Tough measures
The problem rose to the top of the political agenda in
recent weeks after a spate of fatal school stabbings where
teenage pupils were both the perpetrators and victims.
In response, Education Minister Naledi Pandor
reminded headmasters of their search-and-seize powers for
weapons and illegal drugs and said she was considering tough new
measures including random drug testing of pupils.
Pandor's department is in the final stage of drafting
"priority" legislation to tighten security, which could propose
installing metal detectors, X-Ray machines, and security cameras
in schools, a ministry spokesperson said.
Pandor has previously warned that the poor quality of public
education will threaten future growth if not corrected.
Police reports indicate that unruly behaviour and sexual
violence plague both under-resourced schools in poor areas and
more elite private schools in major cities.
The South African Human Rights Commission recently held two
days of public hearings into school-based violence and its final
report, due early next year, is expected to stoke public debate
over the bill, judging by the number of written submissions to
the commission.
This is all welcome news for teachers at Botlehadi Primary
School, also in Evaton, where two 12-year-old students recently
beat each other with steel rods in a fight over money.
"We notified their parents but no one came. Educators are
helpless when it comes to discipline," said Clement Nkhumese,
head of department at Botlehadi. "I don't think we should be
using corporal punishment but current methods are ineffective."
More than bullying
About 10% of assaults against children in South
Africa happen in schools, with the Red Cross Children's Hospital
in Cape Town reporting 441 incidents between 1991 and 2002
including rape, strangulation and assault with an iron bar.
Countless other cases are believed to go unreported.
"In the grim suburbs and townships, there is little
entertainment for children - no sports clubs or playgrounds. We
must make the community work together to reduce violence," said
Sebastian van As, of the hospital's trauma unit.
Increased parental and community involvement in the lives of
children and peer mentorship programmes could create a more
productive learning environment, he said.
Van As is among those who warn stepped-up security could
backfire, arguing that pupils who are expelled are at greater
risk of delinquency and that lockdowns only heighten anxiety
among students.
"We worry about responding to this with police measures.
Children need a safer learning environment not one of fear,"
said Penny Dlamini, of the Johannesburg-based Soul City
Institute, which focuses on youth issues.
But some who have been victims of school violence say a soft
touch will never work.
Alvaro Manana, 16, was threatened with knives and verbally
abused until he fought back.
"It's not right that people don't feel safe when all they
want do is learn," he said.
- Reuters
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