Dakalo Mavhunga, the elder brother of Lufuno Mavhunga, the teenager who committed suicide after being bullied at school, went straight to the heart of the tragedy when he spoke about his sister this week. “We know some of you may say we just have to celebrate her life. It’s not that easy, because she was just a girl of 15 years.” His words encapsulate the tragedy - she died too young, and her last days on Earth were filled with terror and abuse. What is there to celebrate?
Lufuno overdosed on pills just hours after being beaten by a fellow pupil, punishment for daring to block her on WhatsApp and Facebook. This was Lufuno’s desperate attempt at dealing with insulting messages from the bully. She tried, on her own. But instead of backing down, her perpetrator sought her out and beat her up.
I know I am not qualified to tell you about parenting, but what I know and what I have seen in that video is that there was someone’s child that was assaulting my sister.
— Dakalo Mavhunga, elder brother
Her friend Mukoma Tshinakahi bravely spoke at her memorial service at Mbilwi Secondary School in Vhembe, Limpopo, on Friday. “I was fuming when she cried in my lap and I couldn’t do anything. If only we had helped, maybe she would have still been here today.”
So many cries for help. Sadly, the loudest cry for help came from Tshinakahi, herself still a schoolchild. Where are the voices of the adults? Lufuno’s suicide should force our education institutions and social support services into doing some serious introspection.
“I know I am not qualified to tell you about parenting, but what I know and what I have seen in that video is that there was someone’s child that was assaulting my sister. I do believe that child comes from a certain family and there are parents in that family,” said the grieving brother, hinting at problems in the home of the perpetrator.
Lufuno was failed twice. Firstly by a school system that failed to produce early prevention mechanisms and secondly by a lacking social support system for families in need. The circumstances of the bullying child’s home are not known, but her family might have benefited from some form of social assistance. Now they have to deal with a daughter facing criminal charges.
The pupils involved in the bullying incident have been suspended for seven days by the education department, an inadequate response that does not come close to offering a meaningful solution. The school principal told the SA Human Rights Commission he had caned school pupils in the past. Besides this being against the law, his reaction illustrates an ineptitude at disciplining the children in his school.
Last week the Each One Teach One Foundation called for teachers to be trained as life coaches and for the introduction of conflict resolution channels within the school community.
A 15-year-old schoolgirl has been arrested for assaulting Mavhunga. The foundation said she should be dealt with in accordance with the Child Justice Act, which places great emphasis on the assessment of children in conflict with the law. This girl’s life will also be lost if she does not get a chance at rehabilitation. Already she has become a target for bullies on social media.
There is nothing constructive about a vengeful reaction.
These are children we are talking about. They need support from adults, they need adults to set up social work programmes in their schools, they need adults to set up proper structures at schools to empower bullying victims. Will the real adults please stand up?
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