/ 25 April 2005

An everyday horror

The alleged incidents of rape in a primary school classroom in the township of Kagiso in Gauteng last month are so shocking that it’s an effort not to be left speechless by them.

The story is this: the Grade 3 class had allegedly been left unsupervised for a week because their teacher was on study leave. One of the boys — aged 13 — wedged a broomstick under the classroom door to keep it closed. Then he and some of his male classmates, the youngest aged nine, allegedly dragged an eight-year-old girl from her desk, pinned her down and raped her in front of the entire class.

Apparently it did not happen just once, either. According to some reports, a

different girl was raped in this classroom every day of the week. A total of six boys have been arrested in connection with the alleged rapes.

It’s the kind of scene that makes Yizo Yizo, the controversial ‘real-life” drama, look like a soppy comedy.

There has been quite an uproar from the raped girls’ parents who believe the management and the teachers at the Kagiso school are responsible for the tragedy.

Educators are absolutely responsible for the safety and well-being of their learners while they are on school premises during school hours. The notion that not one of them had even an inkling of the kinds of aberrant behaviour taking place — especially since it allegedly happened more than once — makes you wonder if there’s a standard-issue blindfold and earplugs provided for the teachers at that Kagiso school.

But what is equally — if not more — disturbing is the fact that, left unsupervised, the children seemed to lose all sight of concepts of right and wrong. It’s like the Lord of the Flies all over again, but happening for real and in our own backyards: expressions of the most cruel, base behaviour humans are capable of — and by those of us who should still be regarded as innocents.

If these allegations are proved to be true, then there is some serious work to be done. It will not only be about dealing with the boys in a way that teaches them to treat others with the dignity and care they deserve. Support and guidance of professionals will be vital for the victims — and other children who were witnesses — to ensure their lives are not ruined by a traumatic week at school.

And, if these allegations are proved to be true, let us not hear of one educator at the school who cries ignorance as their defence. It is not good enough to claim you just didn’t know if your principle role as an educator is to protect and teach your learners.