SPECIAL FEATURE
Bullying, kidnapping, assault and murder What can be done to better protect our school children? The blatant daylight kidnapping-for-ransom of 6-year-old Amy-Lee de Jager outside her school in Vanderbijlpark last month raised concerns among parents about the safety of their children in and around their schools.
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hen, in another horrific incident, a 14-year-old from Thuto Tiro School in Sebokeng, Johannesburg, died after being stabbed with a pair of scissors in a playfight. These are not isolated crimes in South Africa. Every year, its young learners are abused, attacked or bullied by their peers, carers and teachers. While fourth industrial revolution (4IR) security technology is increasingly being embraced the world over, in a country where poverty and unemployment are rampant, the cost of upgrading existing security systems can only be borne by the well-heeled, and certainly not by statefunded or subsidised entities. In an article in the Cape Argus, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde sees increasing 10
the school day as a solution to youthful criminality. With structured activities and adult supervision, he sees it as one way of keeping vulnerable kids off the streets and away from bad influences.
The danger within However, says Jenny Reid, CEO of iFacts, children are regularly abused or taken advantage of while in the care of school teachers. “The National Register for Sexual Offenders (NRSO) – established through an Act of Parliament in 2007 – lists people who have been convicted of sexual offences against children and is available to schools, creches and other child-orientated institutions,” she says. The problem is that the South African Council for Educators (SACE) system is
SECURITY FOCUS AFRICA OCTOBER 2019
manually driven, with results taking up to eight months. While SACE has been successful in ensuring that police clearance certificates are mandatory for those wanting to be registered as educators, Mr Reid says that criminal checks in South Africa are not great risk indicators owing to the country’s low conviction rate and lack of reporting of sexual offences. Accordingly, she believes that social media risk assessments and integrity tests need to be added to the regulations around those wanting to work with children. “It’s also hugely important to implement ongoing assessments as people’s circumstances change which could, in turn, affect their risk profile.” Aside from teachers, she says drivers of school vehicles should also be carefully
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