The impact of socio-economic factors on school violence

Dr Sheetal Bhoola

ON February 4, a brutal brawl took place at Centenary Secondary in Asherville, Durban leaving three students injured and causing the school to shut their doors.

Police and other private security companies attempted to dissolve the brawl but failed to do so.

The violent behaviour of these children caused three injured learners to be admitted to hospital.

In the Western Cape, on the same day, a grade 8 learner was violently bullied and humiliated. The learner’s head was forced into a toilet bowl of human waste by other teenagers.

In January this year, the Gauteng Department of Education identified a total of 245 schools that are at risk of violence.

Of these 245 schools, ENCA reported that 75 schools are within the high-risk range. Learners have become so violent as to set school property alight and attend school armed with unlicensed loaded guns in Eldorado Park, in Gauteng.

This incident was reported last year by the media amidst a 16-year-old girl learner stabbing another girl learner at a secondary school in Soweto.

The reality is that we are unaware of the number of incidents of violence that occur after school hours within the community by teenage perpetrators.

It has been 30 years post-democracy in South Africa and we are still

experiencing violence that is motivated by racial prejudice and other

societal influences.

Lamb (2019) explained that structural violence was initiated and consolidated during the colonial period and reinforced during the apartheid era.

Many reports lack accurate evidence or information and perspectives retrieved from perpetrators, victims, and witnesses and as a result, as a society, we are uncertain of the exact motivation and reason behind these violent incidents.

The violent incidents are often based on reactions and responses to verbal violence, and emotional and psychological turmoil which can resonate with dire socio-economic circumstances that can be related to the child’s home environment and learning problems.

The prevalence of drug and alcohol addictions amongst youth has become a threat to high functionality within our society. Schools and their managing staff have no control over the learner who comes to school intoxicated. Research shows that there is a strong inter-dependency between substance abuse and violent behaviour.

Racial discrimination and behaviour related to varied prejudices still linger in our societies. Interracial socialising will mostly happen in public spaces such as schools, malls, and institutions.

Structural racism remains deeply embedded in the institutional fabric of South African society. It permeates the economy, the labour market, the media, education, health, and housing (Steyn, 2024; 163).

Racial prejudices still coexist with multiple socio-economic challenges, which have resulted in multiple variations of violence that have been normalised. The prevalence of verbal violence has modified the perspective of dignity, humanity, and respect among our youth.

Youth who are victims of these incidents often feel ashamed and are ridiculed for being victimised which impacts their perception about schooling. In turn their experiences at school are tainted with difficult experiences and emotions, which can often be a motivating factor for learners to drop out before completing grade 10.

Variations of violent behaviour amidst learners at school only contribute towards the continuation of violence in our societies for years to come if there are no effective interventions and reliable measures in place.

Violent behaviour and criminal activities have become one form of communication for poor South Africans, in addition to protests to indicate their grievances.

South Africa has had a history of political violence, which was predominantly inculcated during the apartheid era. It was a means to communicate emotions of inequality,

inadequacies, and racial discrimination that South Africans were forced to live with. Post-democracy, we as a society should be shifting away from violence and address this concern through the motivation factors and not intervene when incidents have already occurred.

The mindset and values of humanity, dignity, and respect for each other should be reinforced within our schooling systems to ensure that we develop an improved society that is void of crime and violence.

Schools should be ardent about educating their learners about humanity and respect and teach them at all ages to identify the social ills.

The fight to build a non-violent society is very important for South Africa, and in recent years we have accepted and integrated violence among children and youth at escalating levels.

The ongoing brawls at schools indicate that we are once again developing a society that is void of humanitarian values.

This depiction begs the question of what it means to be ‘proudly South African’.

*Dr Sheetal Bhoola is Academic Director of StellarMaths and Academic at The University of Zululand

DAILY NEWS