Parents to blame for children's behaviour‚ says schools federation

The Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas) has placed the blame squarely at the hand of parents on the violent behaviour displayed by pupils at schools.

Paul Colditz‚ CEO of Fedsas‚ says the violence that has shocked the country over the past week has more to do with what happens at home.

“Parents have not taken responsibility for the proper upbringing of their children. That is it. Short and sweet.

"By far the majority of cases that I have ever dealt with‚ you can link the ill behaviour of a child directly to problems at home. If a child misbehaves at school‚ look at what is happening at home. You will find the answer there‚” said Colditz.

A video showing a learner throwing what appears to be an exercise book at a teacher in a classroom went viral this week. In the video the teacher walks out of the class while appearing to make a phone call after being hit by the book. The attack happened at the Three Rivers Secondary School in Sedibeng.

The Gauteng education department announced that disciplinary process has been initiated against the pupil. There have been other videos on social networks showing learners involved in fist fights with others in classrooms.

“Such a thing should never have happened. This has a negative impact on teachers‚ particularly on young people who want to enter the teaching profession. It is a huge discouragement to people who want to choose teaching as a profession. In the long term‚ that could be extremely crippling for South Africa‚” said Colditz.

He said the schools needed a new culture to deal with the root of the problem and provide a long-term solution. He said Fedsas had developed a value-driven school model which is showing results wherever it is implemented.

In this programme the governing body‚ teachers‚ pupils‚ community and management of the school identify about five values that should drive everything happening in the school. These values are then implemented in every area of the running of the school.

Positive results were seen in the conduct of teachers and pupils‚ he said‚ adding that the schools driven by their own values would do well even in extramural activities.