The recently appointed principal of Realogile Secondary School has added his weight to the continuous cry on schoolchildren’s lack of discipline.
Matthews Choshi, who started duty in March and with intimate knowledge of Alex and its challenges, blamed parents and implored them to take more responsibility for their children, starting with discipline which he urged should begin at home. With only a month of tenure, Choshi has already heard some parents lamenting ‘umntwana uyangohlula’ ( I can’t control my child). An admission he said was unhealthy if the parents wanted the best in life for their children.
He said ill-discipline bred many problems among children. “Some steal school tablets from their peers for unexplained reasons as they also have them, and others claim to have lost the tablets while in class. Why not have compassion for fellow learners whose R3 000-items [tablets] are essential for their learning purposes,” he said, adding that other losses were also from theft by criminals outside school boundaries.
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“This endangers the children’s lives and needs the community’s collaboration with the police to get rid of crime.”
He said ill-discipline also created bullies who terrorised others on school grounds. “Those who can’t take it anymore drop out, afraid for their safety.” Some of the bullies, he said, were already gangsters and extensions of gangs on the outside who peddled drugs which they sold at schools. “Yet, parents and the community know the dealers but do nothing about it. The community needs to stand up for the love of their children and a better future for the township.”
He said the police confiscated a huge knife from a boy at a recent school search and the boy claimed it was for protection while coming to and returning home from school. “A disciplined child will be protected by his conduct.”
Choshi also decried the misconduct, particularly, of 15- to 16-year-old girls, saying it now surpasses that of boys. “They risk teenage pregnancy, ill-health and failure to attend class for nine months… [during] the pregnancy and difficulty concentrating in class after the birth while thinking of the child’s well-being. This is in addition to the risk of HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases.”
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His concern was affirmed by elderly community activist Beauty More at Thusong Youth Centre who said they witnessed children’s gang fights almost daily as they passed by school on their way home. “Some gang beat a schoolmate with sticks. He was rescued by a taxi driver and taken to the clinic for treatment. Others are often separated while claiming to be fighting over girls. When asked to take responsibility, some parents claim not to know of their children’s waywardness, choosing instead to blame external influences beyond their control,” More lamented.
She stated that, in one instance, a gang fight resulted in the severe injury of an elderly resident caused by a rock thrown by one of the fighting children.
More also claimed that some children who are involved in drugs, including nyaope and the resultant criminality, came from well-to-do, but unconcerned families. “Alex is in trouble if parents continue to cede their parenting role to others who clearly aren’t interested in the welfare and education of their children.”
Details: Realogile Secondary School 011 443 2908.
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