The Safety of Learners and Teachers in School: A Criminological Analysis

Abstract

Recent study revealed that safety of learners and teachers continues to be a matter of major concern in the South African schools. Learners and teachers are no longer safe due to an increased level of violence in the schools. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify factors that mainly contribute to unsafe schools, challenges and measures that can be implemented to create safer environment in schools. This followed a qualitative approach and as such secondary data was collected from published newspapers and various reports. In this way, data was analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings discovered that bullying, vandalism, and learner’s possession of dangerous weapons are the main factors that make the school environment unsafe. This study recommends that school search, age restriction or cut off and awareness campaigns, amongst other measures, should be implemented to create safe milieu in the schools.

Keywords

• learners
• safety
• school
• teachers