Update
GEORGE NEWS - The suspension of 14 learners at Imizamo Yethu High School has been lifted by the school following a mediation session at the Thembalethu police station on Saturday 20 January.
The learners were suspended last Wednesday after the school principal reported to the Western Cape Department of Education that the learners were posing a danger to each other.
Jessica Shelver, spokesperson for the MEC of Education in the Western Cape, Debbie Schäfer, said the learners were also likely to disrupt the school programme and put other learners at risk.
Violence - believed to be gang-related - erupted on Tuesday 16 January when the learners were receiving textbooks.
According to Paddy Attwell, spokesperson of the Western Cape department of Education, the school convened a parent body meeting on the same day.
The meeting helped to restore a sense of calm at the school.
"The governing body plans to lay charges against four of the learners concerned, following an investigation. The disciplinary hearing is scheduled for next week," said Attwell.
This is not the first such incident at the school.
In February last year, Thembalethu community leaders, taxi drivers, the Thembalethu Community Police Forum, teachers and church leaders met in an attempt to stop the fights between learners.
This followed a series of incidents where groups of learners wielding knives and pangas chased each other after school.
A learner (17) from Imizamo Yethu Secondary lost the use of his left arm after he was stabbed in the neck and back during a fight.
On Wednesday 4 October 2017, a 16-year-old boy was arrested following the murder of an 18-year-old in a suspected youth gang related incident in Thembalethu.
In 2016 a similar incident also claimed a boy's life.
The ongoing gang violence at these schools has shocked the entire community of Thembalethu.
Last year many mediation efforts were made to try to bring peace at these schools. These efforts seemed to have been in vain.
What triggers school violence
Research done by the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention (CJCP) in 2012 to determine what causes violence among pupils at school, concluded that the increase in violence between school pupils is directly related to incidents of violence in their homes and communities.
Researcher Lezanne Leoschut said that pupils who grew up in a violent environment often regarded violence as a socially accepted means of engaging with others.
"The different models of behaviour that young people are exposed to and the levels of care that they receive, play an influential role in determining violent outcomes for youth.
"Findings highlight the association between violence occurring within schools and that occurring elsewhere, for example in young people's homes and communities in which they live," she said.
The George Herald asked two boys from Thembalethu High and Imizamo Yethu Secondary schools what, in their experience, trigger these gang fights at school.
The boys said arguments can break out for no good reason.
"For example, if a boy from Zone 9 said defamatory words or disrespected another boy from Zone 8, then a war starts after school or during school hours between these rival gangs."
They also said these fights sometimes start outside the school premises or over the weekend and are brought to school on the Monday.
Read a related article: 14 Learners suspended
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