Letter- Daily, scores of schoolchildren loiter on streets, around shopping malls, in parks etc.
School principals have instructed caretakers to lock the gates after the opening school buzzer.
This creates a dangerous
scenario.
The kids are then left
without any adult supervision until their transport arrives at closing time.
We so often hear of incidents
of crime against children, drug abuse, date rape etc.
It is mind-boggling to see how principals can have the heart to turn away latecomers.
We are aware of some children who deliberately arrive late.
These delinquents just want to bunk classes and get up to mischief.
But there are also some children, who sincerely want to be in class but due to unforeseen circumstances they arrive late.
Why must these innocent children be thrown out on the streets to fend for themselves?
The majority of them are black pupils, who rely on public transport to take them back home.
Buses don’t come back for them until the end of the school day.
It’s time that School Governing Bodies, principal societies, civic bodies, Metro Police, SAPS, social
workers, ward councillors,
faith-based leaders and parent
association bodies come together to find a working solution to the problem.
Let’s not wake up one morning
to find a child that we all know
and love, lying raped or murdered
in a park while still in school uniform.