The role of principals in creating safe environments in secondary schools

Abstract

This research was about how principals can create safe environments in secondary schools. Safety is an important aspect in schools today as there are many incidents of violence, abuse, rape and unsafe school buildings, amongst others, reported in newspapers, electronic media and on television. A safe environment in schools is one that is free of risk and possible harm. It is also a place where members of the community work, teach and learn without fear of ridicule, intimidation, harassment, embarrassment and aggression. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five (5) secondary school principals and ten (10) teachers individually at their respective schools. The research was qualitative in nature with an interpretative paradigm, using a phenomenological study as a strategy. It was found that the government has a responsibility to provide a safe and respectful learning atmosphere in which all learners and the whole staff are treated with dignity and respect so that they can participate fully in their academics and duties in a safe educational environment. Furthermore, violence and the dysfunctionality of families also affect teaching and learning as some learners become victims of criminal activities in the neighbourhood. Schools in townships seem to have more problems in terms of safety as some are not getting support from the community; instead, these schools are vandalised, and the learners are abused by the community. Schools in town tend to be more protected because of security measures in place. However, all five schools studied in this research tend to have factors in common that are disrupting teaching and learning and affecting safety at school. These shared factors include burglary, family rage, misbehaving learners and bullying. However, it became clear that although there is lack of support from government, school principals still need to create and maintain safe school environments. In this regard, good leadership from principals is required so that the body can function well. In other words, the principal needs to give the vision and support to the staff, so they can be able to implement it.