Sunday Tribune

‘Communities, schools must curb violence together’

CHARMAINE MAZIBUKO charmaine.mazibuko@inl.co.za

DR NOMAKHOSI Sibisi, a University of Kwazulu-natal (UKZN) lecturer, took on the task of investigating violence at schools in the province and the associated impacts on pupils and teachers.

Sibisi researched the subject for a doctoral degree and graduated with a PHD in criminology and forensic studies.

Sibisi said she decided to take the research on because she comes from a family of teachers and she was also raised by a teacher.

Her interest in the topic stemmed from an article that said, “a teacher dies with a chalk in their hand”.

“Just the thought that my mother would one of these days go to work and never come back, due to what is going on in schools, was very scary to me. Hence I did this research,” said Sibisi.

She said violence in schools was no longer just between pupils, but was also between pupil and teacher, teacher to teacher and teacher to pupil, “which is frightening and a lot of teachers have lost their lives on duty”.

Some of her findings revealed that schools don’t operate within a vacuum.

“What we see happening in schools is a direct reflection of what is happening in the communities we live in.

The violence that takes place within communities, the drugs, the alcohol, gender-based-violence will also be portrayed within the schools.”

Sibisi’s research further revealed that the frequency of violence in townships and urban area schools was not the same.

She added that regardless of the quality of education that township schools offered, parents who could afford to take their children to schools outside the area did so because they did not want their children exposed to violent behaviour.

She said one of the solutions to addressing violence at schools was to curb it in the communities, where pupils learned social ills.

“Drugs don’t come from nowhere, it comes from the community. They

get dangerous weapons from the community. People that sell them alcohol are in the communities.

“So if we have challenges with violence, challenges of substance abuse/ GBV within society, we can’t just say we will deal with it within the school,

because when the school is out, children are still being exposed to violence within the community.”

Sibisi said parents should be hands on because teachers were not responsible for protecting their children.

“Other issues arise when parents are defensive of what may be reported about their child in school because it may be a reflection of what’s happening within their home.

“Parents and guardians need to be accountable for their children’s errant behaviour.”

METRO

en-za

2022-05-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://sundaytribune.pressreader.com/article/281603834079362

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