THE NATURE, CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE IN SOUTH AFRICAN HIGH SCHOOLS

The escalation of violence in schools is of great concern to teachers, learners, parents, researchers and the South African government. The purpose of the study was to investigate the nature, causes and effects of school violence in South African schools. Four high schools in Buffalo City Municipality in the East London District were purposively selected. The participants comprised of 80 learners and 20 educators from the selected high schools. Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews in this study. The questionnaire was pilot studied in a school outside the East London District. Themes and percentages were used to analyse and interpret data collected from learners and educators. The study found that bullying; vandalism, gangsterism and corporal punishment were forms of school violence prevalent in schools. The study also found the following factors as contributing towards school violence: the high rate of violence and crime in our communities; indiscipline on the part of learners; intolerance; the high rate of unemployment; easy access to school premises by people from outside and lack of recreation facilities in township and rural schools. The study found that school violence causes the following effects on learners: loss of concentration; poor academic performance; get scared and bunk classes; chaos and lose time; and depression. The implications of these findings were discussed in detail in the paper.