ALBERTON – Lets take a look at some of the things going on in school:
* Kids kicking or breaking other children’s school bags or destroying their stationery, keep in mind that with the amount of work and books that our kids are faced with now, the load they carry is in all respects very heavy. The solution to this have been to buy our kids the bags with wheels so that they can at least carry their books without doing physical damage to their bodies. However, once a child decides that they will take out their anger on somebody’s bag and breaks it, who is now liable to replace this? Not all parents can afford to replace the bags on a regular basis.
Now if we take this out of the school surroundings this would be considered as malicious damage to property, which is a chargeable offence. All of a sudden this is no longer innocent fun.
* Kids having physical altercations at school; this comes with a warning in school; in the outside adult world it is considered assault, which is a chargeable offence.
* Kids teasing and spreading rumours about other children; in the adult world this would be considered as defamation of character or intimidation, also a chargeable offence.
* My favourite is taking things that don’t belong to you; this in the adult world is considered as theft and is a chargeable offence.
* Being caught with drugs, you guessed it, a chargeable offence.
* Drinking at school, a chargeable offence.
* Smoking as an under-aged child, according to the law this is an offence.
Then why do we tolerate this at a school level, where all they are taught is that the only consequence to their actions is a warning and the parents find out about it? Maybe if the parents started to realise that in some of these offences, because the child is a minor, they can be held accountable for the child’s actions in the eyes of the law.
The root of the problems seems to be that either the child really requires counselling or we can take it a step further, and as if the problem does not stem from the parents/living conditions.
In this country, according to our Constitution, it is a child’s right to an education, what happens when your child is so scared or tormented at school that they no longer want to be there? Is it not unfair on the children that do want to be there, to have to put up with children that have no regard for others, their property or themselves.
I think bullying has no place in a school and should not be tolerated just because they are kids. Maybe if we could stop this type of behaviour at school levels we might not have so many youths committing crime outside of the schools.
Parent
Some of the comments from our Facebook page:
* Onaanvaarbaar. Ouers is te sleg om hulle kinders op te voed!
* There was a kid in my son’s school who bullied. I went to the principal more than once. No one liked this kid. Nothing was ever done about the things he did to other kids. On my last visit regarding this child strangling my child, I was told by the principal that he has spoken to this kid’s parents and they say that their child is being bullied, not the other way round. Let me just say, this kid was three times the size of the kids in his class. Last year some of the other students decided they had enough and unfortunately this boy was pushed to the ground and kicked a few times. Yes, it was not nice. But the other children were tired of this kid hurting them all the time.
* The youth of today is just getting worse and worse. We as adults need to help the youth in very way we can.
* Christine name and shame the truth! I just hope the child branded as the bully was not a child that was bullied and retaliated! Can you think what harm is done by this post? What upsets me is that no facts was verified with the other party! There is another child involved! This could have happened in a park, why blame the school?
* I am against bullying! But.. do you know the bully? Do you know what happened? Do you know the rules of education department? Do you know why there is no response? Do you know the child bullied? There is always two sides to a story!
* Well, Friday we are going to Bracken High school to teach a boy, not to hit or kick the girls if his parents can’t teach them that I will, and I will also teach his parents how to raise there son.
* Bullying has always been around, it just gets more publicity now, sorry to say that the way you treat another person is a value installed at home, some schools are to blame, but in reality this can only be changed by the way kids are brought up. Pepper spray, maybe kids won’t be too keen to bully when they are blind! Sounds bad, but they make life hell for others ?
* Children are being abused mentally as well as physically, and schools aren’t doing anything to prevent it and it is unacceptable.
* And it’s not only physical abuse going on. It’s so sad. We try bring our kids up with good morals and respect for one another and then they have to deal with other kids’ bullshit. It makes me see red!
* A friend’s child was bullied so much the student had to leave school and now hasn’t finished school. Asked to remain anonymous, it was brought to the attention of the school, then taken to the class where the bully was and asked, so did he bully you in front of the whole class? So much for being anonymous or on the victims side.
* Received on e-mail:
What an interesting story u wrote about bullying,I thought I was suffering alone with my child. Thank you for opening my eyes that we are not alone. True, principals are not allowed to comment to the papers, they are quick to cover up the stories or shift the blame to other parties. They get away with a lot because they are high and mighty, they can also insult parents without getting into trouble.
I decided to cut ties with the school and move my child to another school. Guess what? He is given negative reports and is labelled as a bully, not a victim. No other schools wants to accept him. I’m stuck with a seven-year-old child who doesn’t go to school.
Gauteng department of education is dragging its feet to place him in another public school. The school inspector told me to take the school to court, which I’m busy with. I thought education is free and it’s illegal to keep a child at home. We are almost at the end of the first term, but my child is still at home.
Concerned parent
*Received on SMS:
I have a son who was bullied from primary to high school. It made him lose his self-esteem and self-confidence. At the end of the day it led to him taking drugs. We had to take him to a rehab which cost us thousands. Please parents, take this bullying very serious, it can destroy lives and families.
Broken father
