Education
- Whether his Department has initiated programmes to combat bullying in schools in this financial year; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are the relevant details and (b) how successful are the programmes;
- whether incidents of bullying in schools have increased or decreased in the current financial year?
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Answer:
- My department has informed me of the following:
While some cases of bullying do go unreported, or are dealt with internally at schools, 96 reports of alleged cases of bullying were received by our Safe Schools call centre between 1 January 2022 and 30 September 2022. (Final term statistics are not yet available.) This in comparison with 35 cases reported in 2021.
One of the major challenges that we have is that not all Life Orientation classes have specialist teachers in the class, and the material may not be adequately or as passionately addressed.
Incidents of bullying are dealt with in terms of the school’s code of conduct and disciplinary procedures at schools.
The implementation of the curriculum, the accompanying campaigns and support programmes have been successful in implementation; however, it is difficult to measure impact.
As teachers are employees of the Western Cape Government, they must also adhere to:
It is important that we educate our youth on social media risks and behaviours so that they become positive cyber citizens.
WCED cyber-wellness programme:
The Department has a Life Orientation Cyber-wellness programme that aims to ensure that learners and teachers alike are cognisant of their digital footprint and the infinite potential of the cyber world both positively and negatively.
The Department has issued Guidelines on e-Safety in schools: Educating towards responsible, and ethical use of ICT in education, Guidelines on Cellular phones and other mobile technologies in public schools; Guidelines on Social Media and Networking in Public Schools; and various manuals and worksheets:
https://wcedonline.westerncape.gov.za/elearning-guidelines-and-workbooks
Online safety curriculum:
The Department’s Life Orientation team has, in collaboration with Google, developed an Online Safety Curriculum Guideline book that seeks to teach learners the fundamentals of digital safety. The lessons have been rolled out through the Life Orientation programme across the province.
The lessons are aimed at making learners aware of and have a better understanding of the implications of their actions on social media. The lessons are grade specific. Two key features: combat cyber-bullying & prevention of social media as a gateway for sexual engagement.
This book has now been distributed to every high school in this province and in the country.
Anti-bullying campaign:
At the beginning of the 2022 financial year, the Department launched an anti-bullying campaign called #StopTheShare.
The responsible thing to do when seeing or receiving a harmful social media post is to stop it from being shared elsewhere, either by deleting the post or to “Stop the Share” completely by reporting harmful content. However, many people are unaware how to do this.
As an education awareness campaign, the Department has created resources that highlight the harm we do by simply liking, sharing, or commenting on a harmful post. We have also created a set of online videos to show learners and the general public, exactly how to #StopTheShare for this type of harmful content.
The videos can be viewed at: Anti-bullying | Western Cape Education Department
Collaborative partners:
We continue to engage with several education partners to assist in combatting the scourge of bullying in all its forms. These include organisations such as A21 (bullying and human-trafficking), BullyProof (JAG Foundation), and Web Rangers SA.
The Department also liaises with organisations and other Departments to supplement the services from WCED-employed psychologists and social workers and inter-sectorally with the Department of Health, Social Development and NGOs such as CASE in Hanover Park/Manenberg.
Thus, in cases where learners are manifesting symptoms of depression and may even be at-risk of a possible suicide attempt, schools should contact the psychologist or social worker allocated to their school by the DBST. In the case of a more urgent referral, schools, parents, and/or learners may call the SAFE SCHOOLS Call-Centre [0800 45 46 47] for assistance in locating immediate support.
Positive Behaviour Programme:
The Positive Behaviour Programme is a strengths-based approach on disciplining and guiding children and youth, which was also launched this financial year. They too address issues of bullying, with a focus on the bully itself.
Every district has positive behaviour support programme which capacitates our teachers in dealing with disruptive behaviours in the classroom, and other strategies including anti-bullying, classroom management, building a restorative code of conduct, peace discipline and diversity programmes.
Districts often have anti-bullying campaigns and programmes for our youth. For example, the Cape Winelands District, as well as the Cape Winelands District Municipality, joined hands to promote an anti-bullying campaign which focused on being kind to one another.
This sparked the idea for this group to collectively drive a ‘Be Kind Campaign’, focusing on ways to be kind to yourself, others, the environment, and people you meet in passing. Besides a social media campaign running on the Cape Winelands District Municipality’s Facebook page, the Department of Health has challenged its staff members to identify ways they can show kindness.
The Safe School holiday programmes also address bullying.
Policies:
There are several policies in place with guide the practices and attitudes to promote positive behaviour in schools are:
SA Schools Act No. 84 of 1996 Western Cape Provincial School Education Act 1997 Alternatives to corporal punishment guidelines Regulations on disciplining, suspension and expulsion of learners A practical guide on learner discipline and school management Learner Code of Conduct
Every year new, teaching pedagogy is introduced to strengthen the teacher’s delivery on the topic. This is supported by resources received from education partners, universities, and private institutions.
The Department has stated that schools must address bullying, including cyber-bullying, in their school code of conduct. Disciplinary measures against learners who distribute, videos or participate in events that put the school into disrepute or constitute abuse, assault or bullying should also be addressed.
Public schools must:
- draw up and publish a policy on the use of social media (eg. Facebook; Instagram, TikTok; WhatsApp; Twitter)
- inform users that defamatory, derogatory, false or offensive comments made, and such information shared on the school’s Facebook page or similar platforms will be deleted by its administrator;
- sensitise learners and employees to the appropriate etiquette for online activities;
- specify when and for what purpose the use of social media platforms is acceptable within the school environment;
- ensure that online activities planned by teachers only include age appropriate sites;
- educate learners and employees on critical thinking skills, digital literacy and online safety measures, to enable them to navigate safely through the online world;
- encourage learners and employees to act responsibly and be aware of the consequences associated with the use of social media;
- ensure that learners are aware of the potential negative effects of Internet use;
- teach learners in an age-appropriate manner about the risks and dangers involved in the use of social media, particularly when some of the risks and dangers occur both in the home and school context (i.e cyberbullying); and
- advise learners and employees at a public school of behaviour that may be inconsistent with the Code of Conduct for learners or the Code of Conduct for employees, as well as sanctions that may be imposed in the case of transgressions of these codes of conduct where the transgressor is found guilty of misconduct or serious misconduct in terms of these codes.
The topic of bullying is embedded in the Life Orientation curriculum and is taught every school year from Grades 4 to 12.
