BLOEMFONTEIN – Mangaung Metro JOINTS role players, Youth and Social Responsibility Committee members conducted an unannounced school search at Roseview Primary School. Parkweg Station School Safety Officer, Sergeant Tsholohelo Taba, received several complaints from the School Governing Body, which included incidents of exposure among learners.
The SSSO then invited G4S Correctional Centre, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Community Police Forum, and various SAPS units such as the Visible Policing Unit, Crime Intelligence, and Corporate Communication and Liaison for an intervention.
The search was followed up by an awareness session with Grade 6 and 7 boy learners. The focus of the awareness included a warning that learners are not allowed to bring dangerous weapons to school or involve themselves in drugs, as there were allegations that they bring vapes to school. Learners were also warned not to touch each other, especially girls, and not to expose themselves indecently to one another.
During the search, the team noticed that most learners bring cellular telephones to school, and it necessitated a cyberbullying awareness talk. Learners were warned that sending each other nudes constitutes child pornography, which is a punishable offence. The definition of theft does not exclude stealing one another’s belongings-it is still a crime. A criminal record will disadvantage learners in the future; they will not be able to apply for work and may not be able to travel abroad. Bullying can be caused by peer pressure and even jealousy, while self-defence might end up creating gangsterism.
