Retha Kruger
Bullying is rife in today's school culture, with devastating consequences which
negatively affect not only learners and staff, but the broader neighbourhood
community, the general school climate and the overall functioning of the school.
Research shows that bullying can be a precursor to aggression and, if not addressed,
may lead to more serious acts of violence.
Violence-related incidents within schools have garnered ongoing media coverage
in South Africa in recent years. In the past year alone, local media coverage of
brazenly violent acts - which have at times proven fatal - have again fuelled public
opinion that school violence in South Africa is escalating at an alarming rate. It is
disturbing and shocking that the effects of bullying can be so severe that some
individuals, seeing no other solution, are driven to suicide or murder.
In the last few months, many stories have made national headlines: David Hlongwane
from Soshanguve, 16, committed suicide after he was bullied by four classmates; a
Grade 11 learner in KwaZulu-Natal attempted suicide after she was allegedly bullied.
Another learner also dropped out and was hospitalised for stress as a result of
racial taunts; Allan Manuel, 17, from Kasselsvlei High School in Cape Town, was
stabbed and killed by a matric learner; the Gauteng Department of Education expelled
five Lethabong Secondary School learners - four of them had been charged with
bullying; Khanyisani Mnqayi, 15, from Wentworth High School in Durban, was fatally
stabbed by a fellow learner; a Grade 11 learner was arrested in Gauteng for killing a
fellow learner he accused of bullying him.
He is currently facing murder charges; Raylinn Fortuin, 16, died after being
stabbed at Beauvallon High School in Valhalla Park; Thabani Mntini died after being
stabbed during a break-time scuffle on the grounds of Hillcrest Secondary School in
Mossel Bay; and Gordon High School learner Bradley October, 15, was stabbed at the
school.
These stories have made national headlines, and yet for each of them, there are
hundreds of stories that go untold.
A 2012 study by UNISA's Youth Research Unit on bullying at secondary school level
showed that 34% of 3371 learners surveyed in Gauteng, and 30% of 901 learners
surveyed in the Western Cape have been victims of bullying between 2010 and 2012.
The 2012 National School Violence Study, highlighted the extent to which community
factors intersect with the levels of violence occurring at schools.
In South Africa, unique contextual factors such as community violence
overflowing into the school impact on the management of bullying and on the
prevention and intervention thereof. Research into bullying in South African schools
has found it to be present in many context and spheres. The detrimental effects of
bullying are a harsh reality and urgent action is needed. There has never been a
stronger need to reduce school bullying and create safe schools than at present.
This leads me to the question: What is being done about bullying in our schools?
What is being done to address and effectively manage bullying behaviour in our
schools?
There seems to be a gulf between what the Department of Education has
implemented to effectively address bullying and what is actually occurring in the
school environments. Barbara Creecy, Gauteng Education MEC, recently stated that
programmes designed to address bullying were expensive to implement and most
have proven ineffective. According to Creecy, the provincial education department
was rolling out its own plans to combat bullying, including at "high-risk" schools, and
policy documents for all schools.
Whilst the Department of Basic Education advocates for a whole-school approach
to the prevention of bullying and violence at school, evidence-based approaches
that focus on prevention and intervention methods and suitable policies to address
bullying in different situations are also required. These need to be school-based,
based on individual resources and prevention and intervention plans, which draws on
the experiences and contribution of the whole school community.
Finally, the school environment is inextricably embedded in the broader social and
community context, and therefore the whole school community plays an important
role in making schools safe. This includes raising awareness; creating, implementing
and evaluating policies; adequate training and further professional development for
staff; and instigating prevention and intervention programmes.
We all have a social and professional responsibility to share our knowledge and
expertise to assist school communities in effectively addressing bullying.
Tips for addressing and managing bullying behaviour in schools:
The fundamental component in reducing school bullying is to create a positive
school climate.
A whole-school approach is recommended to ensure the effective functioning
of the school. This approach aims to develop supportive school environments that
promote belonging, caring and respect.
Sustained attitudinal change towards bullying behaviour is needed. This can be
accomplished through staff development and opening up forums in which the school
community can engage in discussions about bullying.
Policies aimed at the eradication of bullying should be created, implemented,
and made available to everyone in the school environment. These policies should
provide structure and serve as guidelines for teachers and school management on
how to collaboratively deal with bullying behaviour.
Prevention and intervention programmes should be implemented and evaluated
on a systemic basis. These programmes need to be intensive and long-lasting in
order to have an impact on bullying behaviour. Considerable pre-implementation
planning is needed to garner staff support and buy-in for programmes and then to
integrate these programmes with existing support services in the wider community.
Campaigns and workshops are useful methods which aim to facilitate
awareness and provide important information about bullying. Providing the whole
school staff with more knowledge, education and training is critical to addressing and
managing bullying.
Training for teachers, school managers and other school staff is required to
enhance their skills on how to respond effectively to bullying. Schools need to
provide continual support for staff by providing them with ongoing, practical training.
Clear reporting methods should be used to document bullying incidences and
record the intervention processes implemented. Consistent responses to incidents
are critical in providing safer and more supportive environments.
The physical structures of the school environment should be evaluated to
identify areas where bullying occurs and implement strategies to target these areas,
including supervision where bullying is more likely to occur.
Teachers and school management need to be actively involved and engaged
with learners - academically as well as personally. These individuals are at the
forefront of addressing bullying by the modelling of appropriate behaviours, and
dealing effectively with incidents of bullying.
Schools need to involve key role-players from the school and wider community.
Initiatives to combat bullying behaviour should bring together experts from various
disciplines, and in co-operation with them, utilise their expertise in developing anti-
bullying programmes and policies.
Psychologists can play an important preventative role in the whole-school
environment and engage in the building of supportive psycho-social learning and
teaching environments, as well as contribute to on-going staff development. It is
important for the psychologist not to work only at the level of individual schools, but
to strive to widen their intervention to a community level.
Efforts should be made to sensitise parents to the issue of bullying through
educational presentations, training on how to approach and communicate with their
children about bullying, teacher-parent meetings, and involving them in bullying
prevention and intervention efforts. Families play a critical role in bullying prevention
by providing emotional support in promoting the disclosure of bullying incidents and in
fostering coping skills.
The Department of Education has an ethical duty to review their policies on
bullying, and update these documents to include the nature and extent of
cyberbullying. The most important preventative method is the education of everyone
in the school community about responsible internet interactions.
* Retha Kruger is a Cape Town educational psychologist, currently working at
Glenbridge Special School in Diep River. Retha received her MEd Psych from
Stellenbosch University in 2011.
