‘Please keep knives out of schools’
A concerned mother from Polokwane speaks out about her son's ordeal at a local high school.
POLOKWANE – A local family has expressed their concerns about learners carrying knives to school after their son was stabbed on the premises of Northern Academy Secondary School last Thursday.
The family who opted to remain anonymous say they received a call last Thursday, notifying them that their son was at the sickbay after he was involved in a physical fight at school.
The mother told Polokwane Observer that an argument apparently started during break when a group of older learners insulted my son, his cousin and a friend just before the bell rang at the end of break.
“According to my nephew, when the bell rang my son told the other two to walk away and go to class but that this angered the older boys who said he was being disrespectful. They followed him to class and told him they would be waiting for him after school to teach him a lesson.”
She said all her son did was to hurry the group up in order to get to class on time and avoid getting demerit points. At the end of the school day, the three younger boys walked to the school gate but were stopped on their way by the older group.
“My son was beaten up for being cheeky. He was told he is disrespectful and after the first slap in his face he retaliated. One of the older guys took out a knife and stabbed him before he ran to the teachers. The friend was also stabbed before the older boys ran away.”
She claims that the incident is not an isolated one.
“A month earlier his father had to fetch him from the sickbay after he was beaten and left unconscious. Bullying at school is real. As parents we need to make sure we are involved in our children’s school life and speak to the teachers about any challenges they face. If your child is a victim or a bully you need to be able to speak to them about this.”
Makhanani Chabalala, the schools marketer referred Polokwane Observer to the group head office of Curro Holdings. Nadia Rossouw, the group’s public relations and media relations officer, said Curro Holdings won’t be commenting on the matter.
