By Tracy Valaydham
Thirty years into democracy, yet racial violence is still rife and has escalated to schools. The question is often asked as to why the generation that has never experienced the atrocities of apartheid and the wrath of racism are the ones that continue to find themselves in arguments and violence related to race.
The recent racial violence took place in Chartsworth, Durban, where a minor dispute on the football field at Glenover Secondary school saw Indian and African learners taking on each other. Reports say the violence erupted when a parent and a group of former learners stormed the school and assaulted some pupils after hearing about the scuffle that resulted in five learners being stabbed. The Department of Basic Education condemned the attack and pointed the finger at parents that they must not take matters into their own hands, adding that they are concerned that adults are the ones encouraging violence, instead of enforcing discipline at home.
As much as respect begins at home, I also challenge society to play its role in enforcing discipline to help young children to be better people.
A child does not only learn words, but attitudes, behaviours, and values at an early age. Those living with that child serve as the immediate adults, making them the first and most influential teachers to help prepare the child for the outside world. We cannot overrule the critical roles played by schools, communities, social, and traditional media, which have an influence on the child’s environment and growth.
The rise of social media has shaped how people communicate, learn, and socialise, especially among the youth. Yes, social media platforms have some positives, however, the darker side of it still exists, which contributes to the youths’ growing need for acceptance, attention, and the need to be popular and trend online.
Some of the ways that social media contributes to school violence is by providing a public arena for bullying, harassment, and the spread of hate speech. A child exposed to such content can be emotionally charging, which somehow alters the child’s mind. The viral videos of racial violence shared on social media not only document the incidents but glorify violent acts, with children cheering in the background,while extreme acts of violence are committed.
A study by the Bureau of Youth Research at the University of South Africa states that 56.1% of female learners and 56.9 male learners are thought to be victims of cyberbullying in South Africa. The platforms used for such are WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.
Social media can also be used to repair the social fabric by using the multifaceted approach to ensure youth use social media responsibly and are respectful to all individuals no matter the colour of the skin. The government also needs to chip in using the school curricula ensuring that the learners are leveraging social media platforms to promote anti-violence and anti-racism campaigns. Debates and positive dialogues can be held to encourage youth to talk about racial matters, while fostering a socially cohesive environment for self-expression and cultural acceptance.
To emphasise my argument, we need to consider that learners are like potential consumers in a marketplace; in every direction, considering that their young minds are like sponges that soaks whatever information they are being told. Therefore, a combined agile attitude from parents in understanding and monitoring the online digital landscape of the child and activity is needed, not to be misread as suggesting that parents do not hold the primary responsibility of parenting properly.
Lastly, the Glenover Secondary School incident and many others, raises urgent questions: What drives learners to behave in this manner? Why does violence keep recurring despite claims of progress? Are these incidents treated as isolated, or should they be understood as symptoms of a deeper structural or historical problem?.
Investigating these issues as singular events only scratches the surface, but creating genuinely safe and inclusive schools needs us to confront the underlying social forces that perpetuate racial animosities. We all have an obligation to redirect our steps into a future that the founding fathers of our democratic South Africa imagined and began the work towards.
