Threat that lurks in class

The  American public was momentarily shocked in October when a student opened fire in a rural Oregon College‚ killing nine and injuring nine more.

Harvard researcher Katherine Newman and her colleagues carried out more than 100 interviews with victims‚ bystanders and perpetrators after a wave of mass shootings. They reviewed the various hypotheses that had been put forward to explain these shootings‚ including media violence‚ bullying‚ gun culture‚ family problems‚ mental illness‚ peer relations‚ demographic change‚ a culture of violence and copycatting. Their conclusion was that most of these hypotheses contained an element of truth‚ but that one factor was not enough‚ and that a combination of factors acted as a trigger.

Newman and associates developed a theory and proposed that five necessary‚ but not sufficient factors needed to be present in rampage shootings. These can also be applied in the Krugersdorp stabbing case.

The first factor is the perpetrator’s perception of himself as being on the periphery of the social group. Elements such as bullying‚ exclusion and isolation‚ being different and on the fringe‚ underpin this factor.

The second factor is that perpetrators suffer from psychosocial problems that magnify alienation. Severe depression‚ abuse‚ mental illness and other vulnerabilities reduce resilience.

The third factor is cultural scripts. These scripts provide models for solving problems‚ such as killing peers and teachers to resolve problems.

The fourth factor‚ and the one I choose to focus on, is the failure of the school to notice that things are not going well and that a child requires closer attention. In some cases the US perpetrators gave some sort of signal of what was going to happen.

The fifth factor is the ease with which perpetrators can access guns or‚ in the Krugersdorp case‚ a sword.

Low-level violence has become endemic in South African society‚ and schools need to offer an alternative way to deal with conflict.

From a school perspective we need to immediately do away with many of the practices that foster violence. Corporal punishment‚ which teaches children the values of degradation‚ force and humiliation‚ has to be completely eliminated. Intimidation by leaders and teachers also needs to be avoided. Discipline is best done privately.

Schools need to make sure that teaching time is used effectively‚ and that pupils of all abilities are engaged in classrooms. Each pupil needs to be assisted to achieve the best he or she can. Each pupil needs to experience a sense of accomplishment and his or her efforts need to be recognised and rewarded. Teachers need to be vigilant and monitor pupil behaviour.

From a conflict resolution perspective‚ it is important to teach pupils how to deal with conflict when it arises.

Schools should not just expect pupils to solve all their problems on their own‚ as if they have the means to do so. Rather‚ pupils should be involved in problem-solving and violence prevention wherever possible. In the final analysis‚ it is difficult to predict where and when the next school massacre will happen.

The South African context of violence‚ as well as the context of violence in schools‚ together with poor levels of pastoral surveillance‚ continues to provide a fertile ground for more school violence.

• Dr Potterton is the principal of Holy Family College‚ Parktown. His doctoral research was in the area of school violence.