School violence
2.5. The impact of violence on the school society 1. The impact of violence on educators
2.5.4. The impact of violence on schoolwork
86
they wait for learners at the school gate. This brings with it a terrorizing "fear factor" which traumatizes educators, learners and parents. Threats, intimidation and harassment engender fear, and result in the absenteeism of both educators and learners (Segoe & Mokgosi, 2007, p.5). They reported that not only does violence have a serious impact on learning, but educators are often absent because they need time off for trauma counseling and debriefing.
87
The teacher is the subject of the learning process while the pupils are mere objects.
In South Africa the authoritarian style of schooling was replaced by an education policy based on principles of democracy and human rights in 1994 (The Constitution of South Africa and The South African Schools Act) but this proved difficult and slow to implement (Harber, 2001). In Tanzania, not only was caning common but one very common teaching method was ‘copy-copy’
where the teacher copies notes or words from a textbook or notebook onto the blackboard. The students then copy these into their own notebooks and ‘copy’
their notes onto paper from memorization in the examinations.
Harber (2001) cites Bauer (1996) who explains how authoritarian schooling works in reference to Michael House Private School in KwaZulu -Natal, South Africa which charges R32, 000 a year and which is based on the model of the British public school. Michael House operates on what it calls the ‘cack’ system - cacks being the term by which all first years are known, meaning ‘scum of the earth’. Like the ‘fagging’ system in British public schools, junior students are expected to serve and do tasks for senior students. In the past this was enforced with a great deal of physical punishment. Although it does not now involve this element of brutality the practice remains in place. Harber states that the essence of this practice is that the younger students serve an apprenticeship in authority commencing at the bottom of the ladder. The principle which underlies this is subordination as a necessary prerequisite for super-ordination that is those who expect to give commands (both inside the school and later outside) should have experience of receiving them. Such future expectations of leadership are reinforced by the acknowledged elite status of the school which is manifested in its buildings and traditions and reflected in the post-school professional connections and opportunities it provides.
88
Kuppan (2006) states that considering that the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education MEC in 2006, Ina Cronje, called for the support of different stakeholders to make schools safe for the learners and educators, it is obvious that criminal activities that were taking place in schools prevent learners from doing their school work successfully. Kuppan (2006) added that two grade 12 learners were gang-raped by four men at an Umlazi school on the eve of Good Friday. The girls had been part of a study group and were getting in some extra study time when the incident occurred.
According to Mahlobo (2000, p.25) crime which is rampant in schools, could have a negative impact on the academic performance of learners. Kauffman (1992, p.417) states that crime in schools makes learners develop school phobia. It is more than likely that traumatic incidents of crime in school will induce fear in learners. When school becomes threatening or aversive, the learner may seek refuge and protection at home or with peers. This situation adversely affects his learning experience. Criminally victimized learners often feel abandoned and lack the security of being part of the school.
According to Bartollas (1993, p.278) crime has a negative impact on the emotional development of the learner. This leads to truancy and disruptive behavior in school, and generates so much pain that alcohol and drugs are viewed by the victimized learner as a needed means of escape. Some criminal acts of learners cause so much self-rejection, especially for victims of incest, that these learners may vent their self- destructiveness through prostitution and may even commit suicide. Criminal acts on learners create so much anger that victimized learners sometimes later commit aggressive acts against others (Bartollas, 1993, p.278). According to Bezuidenhout & Joubert (2003, p.29) the majority of sexual offenders have been the victims of crime themselves, specifically sexual abuse.
89
According to Gwynne (1988, p.19) abused learners as victims of crime often feel that they have nothing to lose by taking drugs, for they are concerned only with forgetting their insecurity, anxiety, and lack of confidence. Love and trust relationships that these learners have never had with people before sometimes develop through substance abuse. They can eventually belong, experiencing closeness and security with peers who are also involved in substance abuse.
Many of these problems are the result of stress and depression. Learners when exposed to situations for example gun violence in which they are the victims, turn out to be an extremely traumatic affair (Bezuidenhout & Joubert, 2003, p.34). The experience of trauma results in the learner being too stressed to cope with learning.
2.6. Violence Prevention (Measures taken by government to reduce