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Vol. 16. No.8 (1-11) ISSN: 1823-884x
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IMPLICATIONS OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA ON
SOCIALLY JUST EDUCATION
Shuti Steph Khumalo
ABSTRACT
Day in and day out reports in different media platforms such as television, radio, newspaper
and social media suggest that the scourge of violence has reached alarming unparalleled and
unprecedented proportions. Violence in schools is characterized by behavior that is anti-social,
uncivil and peace disturbing. The current investigation attempts to contribute towards the
growing body of research on the implications of school violence on learners and socially just
education. Violence seems to be a phenomenon that is increasingly disturbing in South African
schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of violence on socially just
education. This conceptual article is qualitative and constructivist and data have been gathered
through both print and electronic materials that portray violence in schools and extant literature
on school violence. The study deploys the theory of social justice as a lens that guided the
investigation. Social justice theory promotes the principles of peace and justice and violence
in schools erodes such principles.
Keywords: School violence, socially just education, school system, organizational
productivity, implications of violence
INTRODUCTION
Violence, particularly in schools seems to be a phenomenon that is increasingly disturbing in
South Africa (Burton, 2008; Grobler, 2009; Burton, 2013) despite the efforts of the Department
of Basic Education of promoting peace in schools through a number of initiatives and
interventions. Not only is the government concerned with the increase of violence in South
African schools, Unesco as an international body working with countries such as South Africa
is also concerned (Unesco, 2013). Violence does not only manifest in schools but it is a practice
that can be seen in communities, streets, homes and in whatever places where human beings
find themselves. The main focus of the study is to investigate violence that is in schools and
secondly its implications on socially just education. This violence is manifested in a number of
forms such as bullying, teen suicides, sex scandals, various forms of discrimination based on
‘race’, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, as well as unprofessional educator conduct (Burton, 2008).
Extreme incidents of violence include weapon carrying, murder, homicide and other extreme
forms of violence and dehumanizing behavior. Day in and day out, reports in different media
platforms such as television, radios, newspapers and social media suggest that the scourge of
violence has reached alarming proportions.
Mhlongo (2017) supported by Grobler (2019) notes that the latest statistics on school
violence in South Africa are higher than that experienced in United Sates of America, where
out of every 1000 learners, 57 experience violence of some sort. This unparalleled and
unprecedented anomaly is not only a South African problem but also experienced in other parts
of the world (Le Roux, Mokhele, 2011, Akiba, LeTendre, Baker, and Goesling, 2002, Greene,
Open Rubric
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Robles, Stout & Suvilaakso, 2013, UNESCO, 2017). To name a few countries which struggle
with school violence, De Wet (2007, p.674) is of the view that “school violence appears to be
a problem in the Scandinavian countries, as well as in, among others, Australia, New Zealand,
the USA, Germany, Canada, Ghana, Swaziland and Zimbabwe”.
Estimates from UNESCO (2017) indicate that every year, about 246 million children
and adolescents suffer school violence or bullying. Data proving the extent of the scourge
reflects an underestimation of the true reflection of the problem and for this reason,
Longobardi, Prino, Matteo Fabris and Settanni (2019, p.49) posit that “some of the cases of
violence in schools are generally hidden, underreported and under recorded”. Further, in
agreeing with the latter, Pinheiro (2006) in his report for the United Nations Study on Violence
against Children also confirmed that cases of violence in schools are either unseen, concealed,
underreported or under recorded.
Unfortunately, these violent practices of violence are not only posing danger for learners
but also for teachers (Ncontsa & Shumba, 2013, Daniel, 2018). Common reports of bullying
and playground tiffs are rapidly being replaced by incidents of drug abuse, drug dealing,
stabbings, sexual assault and, to a large extent, gang-related activities, with up to 30% of
educators reporting that they do not feel safe at school (Burton & Leoschut, 2013). The Minister
of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, confirms this assertion when she admitted that the recent
spate of stabbings and attacks at learning institutions across South Africa is cause for major
concern.
Various scholars describe school violence, which manifests in different forms and
shapes. The DBE (2015) in its National School Safety Framework of 2015 describes school-
based violence as violence which is not only acts of violence that occur on the school premises,
but also when learners travel to and from school, or at a school-related event. To DBE (2015),
school violence refers to aggression and victimization that occurs “inside and outside the
classroom, around schools, on the way to and from school, as well as online”. These acts of
violence are perpetrated against teachers, school security officials, school leadership and
learners and by teachers and learners themselves.
This study is qualitative and in-depth literature analysis was conducted. The theory
social justice was used lens to frame the investigation. Martin (1999) argues that social justice
propose adequate mechanisms used to regulate social arrangements in the fairest way for the
benefit of all. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of violence in schools
and the implications on socially just education. It can be argued that these horrendous and
dehumanizing acts do not promote socially just education but rather promote disrespect,
unjust and unfair practices which goes against the constitution of South Africa, particularly
the Bill of Rights. Violence negates social justice and therefore education leadership should
take efforts to root out all possibilities of violence in schools. Schools should attempt to
promote relationships amongst stakeholders that are built on the foundational principles of
social justice.
The primary objective of this study was to investigate the extent and the impact of
violence on socially just education. Socially just education is characterised by warm, loving
and enabling environment, where learners learn and teachers teach without being intimidated.
Violence does not promote such principles. I systematically reviewed research conducted on
the prevalence of violence in schools in South Africa and used extant literature and materials
such as pictures and videos in the investigation. The theory of social justice was deployed as
a lens to guide the investigation. The rationale for selecting this theory is that school violence
promotes social injustice. This article is subdivided into various sections and will focus on the
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following: Section one will conceptualize school violence, the next section will deal with the
socially just environment, then the school as a social system will be explored. The rest of the
article focuses on school violence as condition for social injustice, research methodology and
the results and discussions.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Describing School Violence
Different scholars hold different views on the construct school violence. These distinctions arise
because of the different forms in which violence manifest itself. Before I delve into the
definition of school violence, it is imperative that I give the meaning of violence first and this
will help foreground the proper conceptualization of the concept. In their research, State
University of New York Press (2007, p. 3) defines violence from three dimensions namely,
“Direct violence which is intended to insult the basic needs of others (including nature),
structural violence with built into social and world structures as exploitation and repression,
and cultural violence aspects of culture (such as religion and language) legitimizing direct and
structural violence”. Basing their definition from this perspective, to them, “violence is
anything avoidable that impedes human self-realization” State University of New York Press
(2007, p.3). Flowing from the assertion above, defining violence in a school context is
multifaceted and Girmen, Kaya and Kilic (2018, p. 703) citing Furlong and Morrison (2000)
conceptualizes school violence as a “multifaceted construct that involves both criminal acts and
aggression in schools, which inhibit development and learning, as well as harms the school
climate”. “Violence is the use of force against oneself, the other person, group, and community
(Girmen & Kilic, 2018, p. 703). In describing school violence, Unesco (2017, p.8) holds the
view that “School violence encompasses physical violence, including corporal punishment;
psychological violence, including verbal abuse; sexual violence, including rape and
harassment; and bullying, including cyberbullying”.
Elghossain, Bott, Akik, Ghattas and Obermeyer, (2019, p.8) acknowledge that,
“experiences of violence during adolescence and childhood will affect the health, wellbeing,
and capacity of the next generation to shape society, as they navigate rapid social and political
change”. Elghossain, Bott, Akik, Ghattas and Obermeyer (2019, p.9) further pinpoint a
variety of violence as follows: “physical and emotional child maltreatment, sexual abuse by
any perpetrator, peer violence such as bullying and fighting, violence by authority figures in
schools, and intimate partner violence (IPV) against adolescent girls”. Extreme forms of
violence include punching, whipping, hitting, killing sexual molestation, biting with an object,
and verbal assaults. There are number of instances where perpetrators murder learners and
teachers. Sources of school violence originate from different angles, and its sources range from
parents of learners, learners against learners, learners against teachers, learners against parents
and teachers against learners and teachers against other teachers. These acts of violence can be
categorized into forms such as physical, mental, sexual abuse, neglect and verbal abuse.
MacNeil and Steward (2000), supported by Unesco (2017) and Grobler (2018) view school
violence as that which involves any verbal or physical act which causes the intended victim
pain while this individual is under the supervision of the school.
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Chronology of Recorded Severe and Violent Occurrences From January to June 2019
1. Violence is so serious and seems to be an unparalleled and unprecedented norm that a spite
of these activities were reported by the City Press (2019).
2. June 4, 2019: A High School Grade 10 pupil was stabbed to death in a suspected gang
attack. Two other pupils were hospitalised.
3. May 30 2019: A Grade 11 pupil at a High School in Butterworth, Eastern Cape, was stabbed
by a fellow pupil, allegedly with a sharpened spoon, for his lunch.
4. May 21 2019: A 15-year-old pupil in Mankweng, Limpopo, allegedly stabbed a classmate.
5. May 21 2019: A 15-year-old Grade 9 pupil stabbed a 16-year-old pupil to death at a
Machaka Secondary School in Ga-Mamabolo, Limpopo. The two allegedly fought while
playing. Subsequently the suspect stabbed the Grade 8 pupil to death and fled.
6. March 13 2019: A 19-year-old from a High in Gauteng was fatally stabbed while walking
to school.
7. March 13 2019: A pupil was stabbed at a Technical School near Rustenburg in North West.
8. February 26 2019: A 13-year-old used a pair of scissors to stab his 14-year-old classmate
to death at a Primary School in North West
9. February 2 2019: A Grade 12 pupil at a Secondary School in Soweto, was stabbed eight
times, allegedly by a schoolmate, in a fight.
10. January 15 2019: A 16-year-old Grade 7 pupil from a Primary School in Peddie, Eastern
Cape, was allegedly stabbed by a 15-year-old classmate. He died in hospital two days later.
Figure 1: OECD (2019) Reports on School Safety Incidents in South Africa
Gous (2019) from The Sunday Times
Figure 1 gives an indication of occurrences of violence taking place in South African schools in
comparison with schools in other countries which are members of OECD (Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development). From the figure, it can be deduced that South Africa
leads other countries when it comes to violence in various areas such as intimidation, bullying,
verbal abuse of teachers, vandalism, theft through violent acts, physical injury to others and
possession of drugs.
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Socially Just Education Environment
The challenges that schools face and teachers in particular is to work in an environment that is
conducive, empowering, democratic, fair and just for all stakeholders. An encouraging and warm
education environment is beneficial for learners because they feel comfortable, wanted, valued,
accepted, secure, loved, cared and trusted. These values in this study characterize what a socially
just education environment should look like. According to Reay (2014), a socially just education
system is premised on the good education is the democratic right of all and seeks to value and
enhance children’s well-being and their intellectual growth. Violent practices in schools negate
all these values and enact socially unjust practices. Mitchell, Goodyear, Gragg, Mirci and
Morgan (2016) that injustice view violence as violation or transgression of rules, norms or ideas.
Hackman (2005, p.103) maintains that “social justice education encourages students to take an
active role in their own education and supports teachers in creating an empowering, democratic,
and critical educational environments”.
The rational for the establishment of schools is amongst others, to ensure that learners
are taught social cohesion principles such as care and respect, self-control and patience. The
basic principle of socially just education environment is creating an education ecosystem
characterized by peace and interrelation. According to Bell, (1997, p.104), “The goal of social
justice education is full and equal participation of all groups in a society that is mutually shaped
to meet their needs’’. School violence defeats the intentions of social justice education because
it thrives on violent, unjust, unfair and uncivil practices (Bell & Adams, 2016). Mitchell,
Goodyear, Gragg, Mirci and Morgan (2016, p.1) corroborate this assertion when they point out
that social justice attends “not only to distribution, but also to the institutional conditions
necessary for the development and exercise of individual capacities and collective
communication and cooperation.
The School as a Social System
Schools play a very critical role in societies and the knowledge that schools provide to its learners
give assist communities and societies that these learners come from. One of the many functions
of the school is help learner learn how to live peacefully with others. In his theory of
Transactional Ecological Development, Sameroff’s model asserts that children and learners
cannot be studied outside of the contexts in which they develop and are located (Burton, 2008).
The school as an organization has an impact on the human relations and on the behavior of
community citizens. The school is considered by sociologists as a formal organization with an
agenda where its members work together cooperatively to achieve a particular objective. The
school is, to a large extend characterized by interpersonal relationships. These relationships are
between teacher-to-teacher, learner to teacher, and other critical role players such as the
departmental officials and parents. Rawls (1971) speaks about state institutions, and in this case,
the school constitutes one of the many state institutions that derive their existence from the
provisions of the constitution. The state is obliged to provide the education service to members
of society. Because of that, schools as micro societies provide that service on behalf of the state.
There can be no school without societies. All members of the school, learners and teachers come
from communities. In other words, the school is an extension of society.
Rawls (1971) claims that the primary objective of the principles of social justice is the
basic structure of society, the arrangement of major social institutions into one scheme of
cooperation. Schools are places where social networks are established through cooperation and
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interpersonal relationships among learners, teachers and other role players. Violent practices do
not promote unity and cooperation and make learners enemies and enhance educational settings
that are not peaceful. UNESCO (2013, p. 3) holds the view that “There is indeed a need for
increased attention to ensure education systems help build peaceful and sustainable societies” It
is therefore imperative for schools to ensure that they provide learners with educational
environment that is free of violence. Promoting peace in schools require the integration of
programmes into the schooling systems as part of an effort to introduce constructive attitudes,
skills and behaviors for living together in order to prevent future conflict (UNESCO, 2013).
School Violence as Condition for Social Injustice
Bell and Adams (2016) suggest that the goal of social justice is full and equitable respect of
people from all social identity groups is a society that is mutually shaped o meet their needs.
Issues of social justice are apposite to the South African education system and particularly in the
school settings. Rawls (1971) maintains that justice is the first virtue of social institutions.
Gerwirtz in Theoharis (2007) suggests that social justice supports a process built on respect,
care, recognition, and empathy. To Goldfarb and Grinberg in Theoharis (2007), social justice “is
the exercise of altering these [institutional and organizational] arrangements by actively
engaging in reclaiming, appropriating, sustaining, and advancing inherent human rights of
equity, equality, and fairness in social, economic, educational and personal dimensions”.
Arguing from the assertion of Theoharis, altering the education systems’ arrangement
requires establishing an enabling environment that is free of violence where learning is not
affected. Social injustice is meted out to learners and teachers when they experience episodes of
violent practices. Non-violent learning environments promote social justice. When the culture
of learning and teaching is promoted through the creation of peaceful educational settings, social
justice is perpetuated because teaching takes place in a socially just environemnet. Rawls (1971)
contends that through the basic principles of justice, education settings as manifestations of
social systems assign rights and duties to members of such systems. School violence provides a
platform where millions of children and youngsters of are deprived of the fundamental human
right to education every day and this prompted UNESCO to raise the need to build learning
environments which are safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective for everyone (Elghossain,
Bott, Akik, Ghattas & Obermeyer, 2019).
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa guarantees members of society certain
including learners’ freedoms and these freedoms are well encapsulated in the Bill of Rights and
confirm that every person has the freedom to receive education in a conductive environment
(Republic of South Africa, 1996). This clause affirms the argument and debate that violence has
no place in schools and thus education leadership has an obligation to ensure that all learners
including teachers enjoy all liberties (Rawls, 1971) including freedom to receive education in a
conducive, non-violent environment.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This is a conceptual, qualitative, and constructivist article and in an attempt to construct
knowledge, recent and extant literature on abusive school leadership was deeply analyzed.
Chandra and Shang (2017) describe constructivism as a subjective knowledge constructed from
the social reality and co-constructed through human experience. The theory of social justice was
used as a theoretical framework and a theoretical lens. School violence in this article was
Vol. 16. No.8 (1-11) ISSN: 1823-884x
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clarified and contextualized within the theory of social justice. In addition, this theory was used
to outline, analyze, explain and understand the phenomenon of school violence and its effect on
school productivity, learners and teachers. The study was aimed at answering the following
research question: What are the implications of school violence on socially just education?
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Data in this study was to a significant degree taken from extant scholarly literature and images
Literature on school violence unearthed many topical issues. Data analysis involved a systematic
review of all the materials consulted. From these processes, the themes were developed.
Descriptive data analysis method was adapted for analysis and categorized into the following
thematic strands.
Lethal Weaponry
Some of the incidences of violence that occur in schools are very dangerous and involves the
use of weapons that are lethal. There have been instances were some learners were paralyzed or
killed due to such acts of violence. The weapons used include guns, knives, pangs etc. In the
main, boys are the ones who mostly carry these weapons than girls. Child trends (2015) reports
that “High school males are more than three times as likely as females to carry a weapon. This
difference holds for all racial and ethnic subgroups, as well as at each grade level. The study
conducted by reveals confirmation that learners do carry weapons of mass destruction in the
school premises. In the study, “data revealed that a high proportion of students have seen
weapons in school, which might be an indication that weapons find easy access onto school
premises. The results revealed the types of weapons brought to schools. Knives were the
weapons most seen at school followed by guns, while some other weapons mentioned were
pepper sprays, screwdrivers, pangas and bats” (Mhlongo, 2017, p. iv).
Figure 2: An Arsenal of Weapons Used in School Violence
Source: Department of Basic Education, (2018). Final commisioned Report on School Safety
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Implications of School Violence on The Overall School as Organization, Learners and
Teachers
School violence has a devastating effect on the stability and effectiveness of the education in
schools. In its nature, school violence is chaotic and disruptive. Singh and Steyn (2014, p. 81)
contend that “the frequent occurrence of aggressive and violent behaviour displayed by learners
in schools has had a devastating effect on the school system and has become a cause for great
concern among the stakeholders involved in the South African school system”. In their study,
Ncontsa and Shumba (2013) found that violence leads to loss of learning and tuition because the
disruptions require to be attended to. It is very difficult to operate in an environment, which is
characterized by behaviors that are anti-social. These behaviors negatively influence the
organizational productivity and the most affected are learners in the classroom. Osher, Bear,
Sprague and Doyle (2010, p.48) in supporting the assertion, are of the strong view that the violent
conduct of learners which is unbecoming “interferes with learning, diverts administrative time,
and contributes to teacher burnout”.
Besides implications on school performance, violence does also impacts negatively on
learners’ lives. Some of these are devastating and affect the victim for the rest of his or her life.
De Wet (2003) found that violence has a negative impact on individuals, and argue that violent
tendencies negatively affects one physically, emotionally, and psychologically. De Wet (2003)
further contends that, among others, violence causes stress, a decline in self-confidence, possible
depression, suicide tendencies, and poor concentration. Furthermore, studies conducted by
Mazerolle, Legosz and Finighan (2011, p.17) reveal that “violence has significant impact on
social costs, numerous studies have reported both short and long-term emotional, behavioral and
psychological problems from student-on-student victimization such as depression, reduced
perception of self-worth, poorer school outcomes, chronic absenteeism, suicide, psychological
adjustment”. In supporting the empirical results above, Cox, Bynun and Davidson (2004, p.134)
postulate that “Fear of victimization has been found to inhibit learners’ educational and
psychological development”. Singh and Steyn (2014) further added to the list of consequences
of violence on school learners namely, feelings of inferiority, guilt, depression, suicidal
tendencies, absenteeism, death, ill-health, fear and anxiety, feelings of humiliation, nervousness
and tension, ill-health, anger and bitterness. To Marshall (2000, p.133) lower levels of learner
achievement, higher rates of absenteeism, and more dropouts are some of the consequence of
school violence. She further claims that learners who are picked on, made fun of, ostracized,
harassed, and generally shamed, humiliated and targeted by fellow learners over a period of
years may build up anger and hatred that finally explode into physical violence.
CONCLUSION
School violence is negative and no schooling can take place in an environment where fear,
intimidation, low self-esteem and undermining takes place. These practices perpetuates social
injustice and are unsustainable for quality education. De Wet (2007) posits that schools with
high rates of crime and violence are less effective in educating learners and thus promotes
practices that are unfair and unjust. School performance is affected because no learner can
perform accordingly when threatened with violence. This article reported on the alarming rate
at which violence takes place in the South African schools. These incidences occur on regular
basis in different schools and schoolchildren are at the receiving end. This investigation explored
the implications of violence on socially just education environment, particularly on learners and
Vol. 16. No.8 (1-11) ISSN: 1823-884x
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the performance of schools. Data collection instruments that were evaluated included relevant
literature and materials such as pictures and videos depicting violence. It can be concluded that
school violence in schools occur regularly and has dire implications on the lives of learners and
on the performance of schools.
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