'NO BULLYING OF TEACHERS WILL BE TOLERATED'

After discovering that their children's school was ridden with
gangsterism, violence, drugs and prostitution, shell-shocked parents
regained their composure and are fighting back to reclaim their authority.

Parents of pupils attending Liverpool Secondary School in
Actonville, Benoni, have mobilised and are getting to grips with the
issues by assisting the principal and teachers to restore discipline
and order.

Getting involved and having criminal elements and drug pushers
arrested and brought to justice is one way of rooting out
undesirable behaviour, but cutting the purse strings and the
pocket-money if children don't respect their parents is also effective.

There is a new wave of parent/teacher discipline at Liverpool
Secondary School, with parents saying "Enough!"

They have enlisted the help of the Benoni Community Safety Forum and
the Ekurhuleni metro police department to shake things up, and zero
tolerance to bad behaviour and drugs is now the order of the day.

And the message to pupils is: No bullying and victimisation of
pupils or teachers will be tolerated.

So swift was the parental action that a senior learner with spiky
hair, which is against school regulations, was collared on Friday
and driven to the nearest barber for a haircut to suit the rules.

The same morning, another schoolboy was arrested after a parent
confronted him about a parcel that contained rolls of dagga.

It all came to a head about two weeks ago, when a man armed with a
hunting rifle was flushed out by police dogs when metro police
raided the school.

He was arrested as he was about to enter the school gate and was
allegedly on his way to participate in a revenge attack for the
stabbing of two brothers by the father of another pupil, after the
three were involved in a fight a few days earlier.

Twelve schoolboys were also arrested for abuse and/or possession of
drugs. Their urine tested positive for traces of narcotics.

They've subsequently appeared in the Benoni magistrate's court and
were released into their parents' custody until their trial date.

Reza Patel, the dynamic chairperson of the Benoni Community Safety
Forum, and Director Trish Armstrong of the Ekurhuleni metro police
department were alerted to the problems at the school by the
principal when rumours of a revenge attack surfaced. Armstrong, an
advocate by profession, planned the swoop on the premises.

Patel on Monday said that after consulting the governing body, he
called two meetings of the parents of the more than 1 100 pupils at
the school last week to discuss the crisis and ask them what they
were going to do about it.

While some parents were initially in denial after the raid, it
didn't take long to convince them of the seriousness of the situation.

"I asked them to show by way of hands those in favour of taking
action to address the problems at the school, which is not being
singled out - it is merely a microcosm of the macrocosm. Not a
single parent objected to restoring order.

"It was decided that parents would assist teachers by arriving at
school before the bell rings at 7:45am. A team of parents on Friday
rounded up over 400 pupils who were loitering outside the premises
after assembly," Patel added.

After the second meeting for the parents of the senior grades, a
Grade 10 girl stood up and informed them of how critical the
situation really was. Patel said it was an eye-opener to him and the
parents. She said the pupils themselves had to be involved in the
cleaning up of their school for the initiative to be successful.

Patel asked a group of pupils to answer in writing if they were
fearful, felt unsafe, threatened or in danger. More than 80 percent
of the pupils answered yes to his questions. "It was the signal that
action was needed immediately," he said.

Armstrong said one of her senior officers, who is a martial arts
expert, will start self-defence training for the pupils at the
school, starting today.

"We will teach them hand-to-hand combat and how to protect
themselves in an assault with weapons," she said.

The parents have also giving the metro police their blessing to raid
the school frequently in order to restore order.

Patel said one of the big problems in the former disadvantaged
communities was the lack of sports facilities and recreation for the youth.

"There is nothing for them to do, which creates an environment
conducive to drugs and other socio-economic ills."