By Odwa Bafana Mkentane
Two teenagers have been arrested after allegedly being found in possession of a firearm on school grounds in Atlantis. The incident has once again raised serious concerns about the growing danger of learners carrying weapons at school and the potential consequences for pupils, teachers and the wider school community. The Western Cape Education Department says disciplinary action will follow.
A researcher from Equal Education, Yolisa Piliso, says schools are a reflection of the communities which they are located at, and some of these social conditions that are surrounding schools often times manifest and find expression within school communities.
“I think at this point we also do understand that we need to look beyond the school because those guns and those learners were involved and are also children, and how we also understand from a child perspective is that children are victims of circumstances, and children are victims of societal conditions in which they grow in. We certainly do agree that the school community is experiencing challenges that are also outside of schools,” said Piliso.
Piliso added that there are quite a lot of different infiltrations that have been happening, especially around young learners within gangs.
“We recently, in the past few weeks, did submissions to the Parliament inquiry around gang violence, and we are engaging our learner members around the Western Cape about their conditions in terms of safety and violence that they are facing in schools. Some of these issues did come up where they are saying that some of our learner peers are also engaged and involved in gangs, and some it’s not because of their choice. It’s also because of conditions and different circumstances. But I think in this encounter as well, I think the department, as much as we have noted the arrest and we understand that the WCED’s position around disciplinary processes as well, it’s also important mechanisms that at least are there to ensure that these young learners, their lives are not affected entirely by this key moment,” said Piliso.
He further added that this key event could potentially damage their entire life and the framework of how they become adults. So, it is an opportunity to provide mechanisms to support and to protect, but to also ensure that there’s accountability as well within all of that.
Photo: Pixabay
