Our schools are supposed to be institutions of learning. But instead of being cradles of knowledge and wisdom, they have become cradles of death. Violent encounters involving pupils and staff are becoming commonplace as we teeter on the brink of classroom anarchy.
Violence at schools has become a global issue. Because it is a sensitive subject that creates anxiety and projects negative images, it requires courage to face it squarely. To have to admit to the existence of pupil violence in schools is particularly painful.
As a consequence, the subject of violence is often left off the official agenda and out of public debates on education. Exposure to violence, which is so graphically choreographed on television, obliterates or obscures the boundaries that society has created between good and evil, public and private, shame and pride. It is imperative that those in charge of education remove violent pupils from the classrooms to increase the quality and quantity of learning for motivated and well-behaved pupils. Pupils must take responsibility for their behaviour by accepting the consequences of their actions.
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