The station’s acting communications officer, Constable Styles Maome, said that a parent opened a case of assault after her grade 6 son was allegedly assaulted by a fellow learner at the school in March.
He said that the investigation is still going on but no-one has been arrested yet.
The child’s mother, Mrs Margaret van Wyk* said these incidents have been happening since February this year.
She added she reported the bullying incidents to the school’s principal on several occasions but he took no action.
She said she then reported the matter to the Primrose SAPS where she opened three cases of assault.
“When I reported the matter to the school’s principal, he said he did not know it was happening in the school and he would not do anything about it,” said Mrs Van Wyk.
“Every time these incidents happened I called the principal and he always replied with the same answer. He did not know and now that he knows, he does not do anything about it. The principal then investigated my son, sent out a letter to the parents that the school does not accept chewing gum and children shouting but not once making mention of the bullying that’s going on,” Mrs Van Wyk said.
She added that instead of getting feedback on the investigation on the bullying of her son, the principal told them that her son is a good pupil.
“Two weeks ago when I and my ex-husband went to the school, the principal said he would investigate. He then called us again a week later but he gave no feedback on the bullying,” Mrs Van Wyk told the NEWS on July 3.
She added that there were incidents where the school teacher would repeatedly grab her son by his ear and verbally abuse him.
Leeuwenhof Akademie’s executive principal, Mr Johan Bezuidenhout, disputed this saying he was surprised to learn that the matter has gone as far as the media and the department of education.
“The parent reported all three complaints to me. Action was taken in all cases and she was informed about it. She was called in and told what action had been taken on what case. Every time when she left here after the meeting she said she was happy with the action that was taken. I am surprised now when she says no action has been taken on these matters,” said Mr Bezuidenhout.
He said that four girls were given a verbal warning and the matter was recorded in the school’s records.
He added that it was the first time these six girls were reported for ill-discipline.
“In the second complaint, a meeting was held with the girl, both the principal and register class teacher were present. After the matter was discussed it was written in her profile book, as stipulated in the school’s discipline policy. The third complaint involves a teacher. The teacher was called in, in the presence of Mrs Van Wyk and her ex-husband. The teacher denied strongly that she ever pulled the pupil by an arm,” the executive principal said. No mention was made of the child being pulled by the ear.
He added that since the beginning of this year he has received four complaints about bullying in the school.
“Bullying is a universal problem in both private and public schools. I would not say we have a problem of bullying here. We are taking bullying as a very serious case. That is why we recently sent our psychologist to attend a workshop about bullying. She learnt a lot there. We are currently preparing for her to workshop the staff of the school on how to deal with bullying at the school,” Mr Bezuidenhout said.
He added that though the school is taking bullying seriously, he said expelling a child is the school’s last option.
“We are busy with education here. We are preparing someone for the future. We have to give them support and guidance on how to be better people. We can expel the child on the spot when he comes to school with weapons; if not, we try other options first. We talk to the child and the parent. We try to find a way how to deal with it (bullying). If that fails, we refer the child to the school’s psychologist. We try everything we can to deal with it,” Mr Bezuidenhout said.
He urged Mrs Van Wyk and other parents to report all the bullying incidents to the school.
“Parents should report all matters concerning bullying to the principal and staff of the school. Parents should also take responsibility to teach and guide their children how to cope in situations of conflict,” he said.
Gauteng Department of Education’s spokesperson, Mr Charles Phahlane, said the department will investigate the matter and take appropriate action.
He urged parents to closely monitor their children and protect them against bullying.
“Parents should take incidents of bullying seriously and report them to schools, should there be incidents where schools do not take appropriate action in dealing with such incidents, parents should report this to the nearest district office,” Mr Phahlane said.
He added that bullying is a problem in both public and private schools.
“The department held an academic conference on bullying last year where researchers advised us on ways to address bullying in public schools. Our teacher training programme now includes ways for educators to respond and address reports of bullying in schools. We have incorporated anti-bullying messages in our parenting programme so that parents also understand how to address matters of bullying,” he said.
He added teachers who allow bullying to occur, may be subject to disciplinary action.
“Educators are responsible for the safety of learners during school hours, within school premises. If they do not take any action against bullying in their school, they will be held responsible,” Mr Phahlane said.
* The name has been changed.
