A significant number of children and adolescents around the globe face school violence and bullying, including cyberbullying, which adversely affects their health, well-being and education.
UNESCO Member States declared the first Thursday of November as the International Day against Violence and Bullying at School, Including Cyberbullying, recognising that school-related violence in all its forms is an infringement of children’s and adolescents’ rights to education and their health and well-being. This week, the Day was observed on 5 November under the theme: “Every learner safe and well: From promise to practice”. The theme focuses on safety and well-being, reflecting an approach that brings the whole school together around violence prevention, mental health and psychosocial support, teacher support, inclusion and digital safety. This also calls for global commitments to be put into practice through sustained action across the education sector.
The Department of Basic Education (DBE), through the School Safety Directorate and its partners, which include UNESCO, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, the Film and Publication Board (FPB), Google, UNICEF and the AGAPE Youth Movement convened training workshops on the Online Safety Integrated Programme for schools aimed at addressing challenges related to online safety and the responsible use of digital technologies in the classroom. The workshops equipped frontline officials such as teachers, subject advisors and School Governing Bodies with tools to empower learners and parents with knowledge about digital literacy and online safety. Teachers were empowered on the Online Safety Curriculum Guideline that comprises of lessons in Grades 8 to 12, with clear learning outcomes for each grade.
The Director for School Safety, Mr Sifiso Ngobese, highlighted the importance of this programme by saying that, “most learners in our schools have access to the Internet; the DBE therefore has the responsibility to empower them to be safe on online platforms and have good digital footprints”. Some of the topics included: ways to be safe online; identifying child online sexual grooming, the importance of creating usernames and strong passwords; appropriate ways of communicating online; and understanding cyberbullying and ways to address it. According to the Guideline, learners should be able to state the meaning of online safety in their own words, be able to distinguish between personal and non-personal information and practice safe browsing on the Internet.
The Online Safety and Bullying Prevention programmes have been integrated into the Life Orientation curriculum to strengthen safety intervention in the sector. In addition, School Based Support Teams (SBSTs) and Learner Support Agents (LSA) have been established in identified public schools to provide care and support and to do referrals for learners requiring further psychosocial assistance. The introduction of the new state book series: “At the Crossroads”, which addresses different safety topics, is intended to address safety challenges in schools and equip learners to choose healthy lifestyles. To further strengthen this commitment, the DBE continues to implement the National School Safety Framework (NSSF) through convening School Safety District Support Interventions and has launched the revised DBE-SAPS Implementation Protocol to ensure stronger coordination between schools, the police and social service agencies. The NSSF continues to help institutionalise early reporting to improve accountability for response times.
The DBE continues to urge schools to complete Anti-Bullying Pledges, encouraging learners to refrain from bullying fellow leaners and ensure that every learner has access to a safe, caring and protective school environment.