Is gangsterism taking our control of our schools?

In recent months we have been inundated with news and videos on social media of learners killing each other in school premises.

In a recent event that got the country’s attention, a learner from Forest High in Turffontein was stabbed to death while the other was rushed to hospital outside the school in what is believed to be a gang-related scuffle.

Apparently the two learners had waited for the arrested suspect outside the school premises armed with knives and pounced on him.

It is further alleged the suspect managed to disarm his attackers and in his defense stabbed them.

Meanwhile, in the North West another learner was stabbed to death in Brits while on his way from school on Monday.

Coming closer to home, a learner from Buhlebemfundo Secondary School emptied a kettle of boiling water on another learner during an argument.

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While in other events some learners in Daveyton were also found to be part of a gang terrorising that community and other learners being responsible for some of the gruesome events in that community.

Exposure to these events left me dumbfounded and being scared for the safety of learners in our schools.

It seems in recent years gangsterism has found its way into our schools and it is claiming more and more lives weekly.

Yes, gangsterism is becoming an ulcer in this country, I mean look at what is happening on the streets of Cape Town and Westbury with young people being killed every third day in gang-related shootings.

My limited conclusion on the phenomenon is gangsterism stems from a feeling of unjust, fear and the unfairness.

What I mean by this is, when people feel that the police, who are supposed to help fight crime and remove criminals from our streets, our courts are failing to do their jobs fairly the disgruntled end up grouping themselves by retaliating and fighting back and this leads to a blood bath we are facing in our communities.

We cannot honestly overlook these events and pray that it is only a phase in the lives of teenagers and would one day fizzle out.

I believe we should first return to the fundamentals of why we need our children to be in school in the first place and what we expect from them by the time they complete their matric.

I might be wrong but with my limited knowledge education is meant to help us with social skills, critical thinking and also arm us with skills that would help us to become better citizens.

But at this point it seems enrolling your child in a school is a huge gamble.

Also read: Let children be children

Can we as the community regroup, relook at ourselves and what is happening in our schools because honestly these children are only projecting the events of how our homes and neighbourhoods look like.

I believe if we don’t we will only be breeding a generation of criminals who believe the only way to resolve issues is by taking the other human being’s life.

Can we see civil society, churches and all other extensions of the community joining hands to repair what is broken in our community because as is, a boy child’s life is not guaranteed the minute they leave the safety of their homes. .