The recent spate of violence at schools throughout the country is nothing new.
Violence, in one form or another, typifies what occurs at many, if not all, the schools of marginalised communities in South Africa.
In fact, violence at schools is but an extension of the internecine war - murder, hijacking, child kidnapping, extortion and state corruption - decimating South Africa today.
In one sense, the numerous assaults inflicted by pupils on teachers characterise the rage many township youth express against authority figures because of dysfunctional social environments.
These violations are also a consequence of the breakdown in the educational ethos at poor schools, where overworked staff are not empowered to effectively address disciplinary problems they encounter.
Codes of conduct help, but schools are powerless to implement disciplinary measures because educational bureaucracies have the final say.
These state agencies often fail to react timeously because of the number of cases presented to them.
The recent decriminalisation of dagga will add to the already burgeoning challenges at schools because dagga is the cheapest and most popular drug freely available to township youth.
We are at war with ourselves because we have failed to bring into being a concomitant sense of values that will safeguard and renew our political, social and economic ideals.
* Abubakr Solomons, Southfield.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.