A Progress in International Reading Literacy study conducted by the SA Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) has found that South African schools were the most dangerous in the world.

“In that study South African school pupils were asked whether they felt safe when they were at school and if they had experienced incidents of stealing, bullying, and injury to themselves or to others in their class within the last four weeks.

“Only 23 percent of South African pupils said they felt safe at school. On average South Africa’s schools ranked more than 20 percentage points below the world-wide average of 47 percent of pupils saying they felt a high degree of safety in the classroom,”Spokesperson for the Institute, Thomas Blaser, told news agencies.

Schools in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden were found to be the safest in the world.

Here is South Africa, 24 percent of schools had no burglar bars, 35 percent had no security gates, and 80 percent had no alarm systems.

“Conditions in many schools are not only far from ideal but in many cases downright dangerous. The problem deserves urgent attention in parliament and needs a national safety plan that will return proper law and order to the school ground,” said Blaser.

“Failing this it is difficult to see how schools will produce the skills necessary to drive the South African economy.”

We have known that there is a big problem in our current school system. The problems all started with the banning of the cane and the shackling of teachers hands by liberal legislation.

This decline in the behaviour in the youth of our country is directly linked to the lack of any firm action on the part of the government. They have stripped teachers of any powers without providing any real alternatives.

Is the government determined to bring our country to ruin by passing ludicrous, liberal legislation?

We need to get back to the basics that our parents and grandparents knew: Respect for people, punishment for bad behaviour and the promotion of a culture of learning. This current experiment of a new society and values is just not working!

The Principal of South Peninsula High School in Diep River, Brian Isaacs, recently refused to admit 5 kids to the school because they have been disruptive in the past. He says that he is prepared to lose his job rather than have them back in order to instill discipline at his school.

The parents are irate and are threatening to report him to the Human Rights Commission and have now accused him of using foul language while talking to their children.

Isaacs has the backing of the school’s Parent, Teacher and Student Association and is widely seen as a man who puts eduction as a priority.

“Education is serious business. Teachers are here to teach, not to discipline children. That must be done at home,” said Isaacs.

“I know it’s illegal and it’s not education policy to throw them out but it’s in the interest of the other pupils and the school.

“We as teachers want to be respected. You can’t teach at a school where there is no discipline,” he said.

Personally I agree with him 100%. It is about time that the disruptive, abusive and in some cases criminal kids realise that life is not a free ride. Society doesn’t owe them anything when they are the cause of problems in society.

In addition the parents should take responsibility for their own kids discipline. Since all manner of discipline was stripped away from teachers by the state, it can not be left up to them to discipline children. Teachers are there to teach and parents are there to discipline.

In this day and age we have so many problems at schools. Kids selling drugs, being addicted to drugs, under-age sex and kids killing kids. In order to protect our children we need to exclude the troublemakers, out-of-control kids and bullies from the system - the same way we are meant to remove criminals from society at large. And the sooner these kids learn this, the better for them.
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Here is a typical example of how the government lies to us in order to pass legislation that we would never agree to.

Do you remember back when the government was discussing the new Children’s Act? At the time they said that banning corporal punishment would not affect parents unless they abused the child. They said that they would not prosecute parents for smacking a naughty child as a means of discipline. Read the IOL article here about what they promised.

Today we read in the paper that actually even a minor smack on the bum or rap over the knuckles contravenes the Children’s Act and the parent will be fined a minimum of R300.

Please note that I said MINIMUM.

The NPA told the parliamentary Social Welfare Services portfolio committee that unless clause 139 of the Children’s Act was changed, they would be obliged to follow up each and every case that is brought to their attention.

“A decision on whether sufficient pain has been inflicted (for the complaint to qualify) does not lie with the NPA. The act will stipulate that each smack or clip is an offence and should be treated as such.” said Advocate Rodney de Kock, the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape

The new law stipulates that absolutely no form of corporal punishment is legal and a child may not be punished in a way that is “cruel, inhuman or degrading”.

Cheryllyn Dudley of the ACDP asked if it was not possible to refer in the legislation to “reasonable forms of corporal punishment” because a good hiding was an important parental tool.

The reply by committee chairperson Advocate Mike Masutha of the ANC was that the law had provisions for trianing in alternate forms of discipline.

This tactic by the government is very commonly used in the US and UK nowadays. They make promises to pass a law, and once it has passed they suddenly repeal their promises.

If you look at the wording of the law, you will see that if you even SAY something bad to a child, you are ‘degrading’ the child and could be subject to punishment. Many people will scoff and say that this will never happen. I say that it will happen and a whole lot sooner than you think.
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