supplied
Durban – Recent headlines about racism and corporal punishment in schools must raise concern among South Africans.
There is no place for racists in the education system, but they do exist in many schools, not only in previously white-only schools. These issues will be debated for many years to come despite the years of free thinking and free speech in the country.
My primary focus is on the second issue that has captured many people’s attention: the death of a child possibly as a result of a stampede created by a teacher with a stick in hand. Who is really guilty in this unfortunate incident?
The facts are clear. A teacher who wanted to teach the virtue of punctuality at school chose to enforce timeous attendance by standing at the school gate with a stick. Pupils who were already late, for reasons best known to them and their parents/guardians, panicked and unfortunately, in the melee, one child was fatally injured.
Now the question that I pose is: Who should be blamed for the death of this child? Should it be the children for being tardy? They were certainly guilty, but children are children and with no proper guidance they will “break” the rule. Perhaps it is the parents that should be held responsible.
But some parents, to an extent, have lost the ability to influence their children and also suffer the effect of children behaving badly. Often, parents are more of the victims than the children.
The obvious person to blame then is the teacher. Often, the hard-working and concerned teacher, one of the very few who are left, bears the brunt of universal condemnation.
The one person in the list of possible culprits that has to face public and institutional wrath is the one who shows some initiative in trying to bring some semblance of order to the school and lives of children.
This is the lone crusader who, instead of sitting back and enjoying some time chatting in the staffroom before the start of school, chooses to instil some credibility in the schooling system.
For his efforts he runs the gauntlet of public shame and derision. He too receives my sympathy and should be absolved of all blame.
But the law is the law and justice needs to be dispensed. While the moral fibre of our society has weakened, many of us have sat back and watched our public education system slowly dissipate into shambolic, chaotic breeding grounds for ill-mannered children, whose respect for the law and life has reached the lowest levels. How do we restore it?
Removing corporal punishment from schools was the best thing that happened since God created children. No child needs to face the humiliation of violence we have seen perpetrated at schools.
When corporal punishment was abolished as a means of instilling discipline, what alternatives did the education authorities provide teachers? Detention? Try detaining an 18-year-old with muscles bigger than yours and an attitude to match. Detention is also not the solution when children have to travel far distances. What about writing their names in a register of offenders? Who cares? Some names may appear 1 000 times and what then? Call for parents? When speaking to parents at school (assuming you have been successful in convincing the parents to report to the school), you will often listen to voices of despair and anguish.
Parents are no longer in control; they are now controlled. Parents tell tales of their fear, fear that they may be beaten up by their children or fear that their children may consider suicide.
At this point, the teacher in the school has two options. First, s/he can continue to run the risk of being criminalised for standing at the gates with a menacing look and a stick in the hand or, second, s/he can, like most teachers, concern themselves with teaching their own disciplines and ignore the chaos around them. Whoever is in class may benefit.
Unfortunately, we have driven good, hard-working teachers into becoming selfish people. Who needs to raise their blood pressure for the possible wrath of the community and the law? How many parents really hold the authorities responsible for certain omissions in education policy?
I’m not sure how this will unfold, but my heart goes out to teachers who care despite the odds that are stacked against them. Viva the hardworking teacher who is committed to progress of our children, Viva!
* Vimolan Mudaly is a senior lecturer at the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.
The Mercury
