Are South African Schools Safe? What Parents Must Know About School Violence

School should be a place where children grow, feel safe, discover themselves and learn with confidence. Yet for many South African children, school is one of the first places they encounter bullying, harassment, emotional abuse, discrimination or even physical violence. The South African Child Gauge 2025 makes it clear that school violence remains a major concern, affecting children across all income levels, provinces and school types.

The Child Gauge explains that violence against children occurs “across homes, schools and communities,” showing that schools are not immune from the wider ecosystem of harm that many children face daily. While schools have the potential to be protective spaces, they can also become environments where children experience fear, trauma or emotional distress.

Bullying, corporal punishment, discrimination, online abuse, teacher-to-learner violence and peer aggression continue to shape school experiences in ways that undermine children’s mental health and learning. For parents, these hidden experiences can be extremely worrying, especially when children do not report what is happening.

This article brings together key insights from the Child Gauge 2025 to help parents understand the state of school safety, why schools matter in the prevention of violence, and what families can realistically expect and demand from the education system.

Understanding School Violence in South Africa

School violence is not limited to physical fights. It includes a wide spectrum of behaviours and harmful experiences that children may face during the school day.

According to the Child Gauge, some of the most common forms of school violence include:

• bullying and harassment
• corporal punishment or physical discipline
• verbal abuse, mockery or humiliation
• sexual violence, harassment or inappropriate behaviour
• peer aggression
• teacher-perpetrated violence
• discrimination based on race, disability, gender or sexuality
• technology-facilitated violence such as cyberbullying
• violence during school transport or on the way to school
• gang-related threats in certain communities

The Child Gauge explains that multiple national datasets contribute to understanding this picture, including the National School Violence Study (NSVS) and research conducted by universities, NGOs and government bodies. These datasets highlight that violence at school is not isolated – it forms part of broader patterns of harm occurring within families and communities.

Why School Safety Matters for Child Development

A safe school environment is essential for children’s mental health, emotional security and academic success. When children feel unsafe, several things happen:

• their stress responses activate
• their ability to focus decreases
• their learning capacity is affected
• their confidence drops
• chronic anxiety develops
• behaviour becomes erratic
• school avoidance increases

The child gauge highlights that emotional environments shape brain development, meaning that exposure to school violence can impact the same stress systems affected by violence at home.

For children already experiencing stress at home, school safety becomes even more critical. A supportive school can act as a protective factor, while an unsafe one can deepen harm.

Bullying: The Most Common Form of School Violence

Bullying remains one of the most frequent and harmful school experiences for children. It can be:

• physical
• verbal
• relational (exclusion, gossip, humiliation)
• digital (cyberbullying)

Children who are bullied often feel isolated, ashamed or scared to tell anyone. Many worry about retaliation or believe nothing will change. Bullying affects mental health significantly, contributing to anxiety, depression, school refusal and low self-esteem.

The child gauge warns that bullying contributes to the broader pattern of violence and is linked to increased vulnerability later in life. Its effects can last for years if not addressed early.

ALSO READ: What to do when your child is being bullied

Teacher-Perpetrated Violence: A Serious Ongoing Concern

Despite corporal punishment being banned for almost three decades, it remains a persistent problem in many schools.

The child gauge highlights the need for stronger accountability within the teaching profession, pointing to the new SACE Sanctioning Policy as a major development in addressing teacher violence. This new policy introduces clearer consequences and rehabilitation requirements for teachers found guilty of violence towards learners.

Teacher-perpetrated violence includes:

• hitting
• slapping
• pinching or smacking
• verbal abuse
• humiliation
• threats or intimidation
• emotional manipulation

This form of violence is particularly harmful because children rely on teachers for guidance, support and safety.

Online Violence and Cyberbullying

The child gauge emphasises the growing importance of technology-facilitated violence, which is now commonly included in national violence datasets such as the NSVS. Digital harm includes:

• threats on messaging apps
• spreading rumours
• sharing embarrassing images
• online shaming
• harassment in school WhatsApp groups
• exposure to violent or sexual content

Digital violence is harder for parents to detect because it happens privately on phones or laptops. It can occur at any hour, making it even more psychologically damaging for children.

How School Infrastructure and Overcrowding Increase Violence

School infrastructure plays a major role in safety, yet thousands of South African schools struggle with:

• overcrowded classrooms
• limited supervision in playgrounds
• unsafe toilets
• lack of fencing
• poor lighting
• limited access control
• insufficient security staff

The child gauge points out that infrastructural failures create environments where violence is more likely to occur. When children are unsupervised, when classrooms are packed or when school grounds are unsafe, opportunities for bullying and aggression increase.

Community Violence Spills into Schools

Schools do not exist in isolation. The child gauge highlights that community violence is deeply connected to violence in schools. When neighbourhoods experience:

• gang activity
• crime
• domestic violence
• community conflict
• poverty and unemployment
• historical trauma

These conditions can spill into the school environment.

Children may arrive carrying stress, fear or trauma from their home or community. Teachers may also carry emotional strain. These pressures influence behaviour and increase the chance of conflict.

How Children Hide Their Experiences

Children often do not report school violence, which means parents may be unaware of what is happening.

The child gauge explains that children’s experiences “are not well captured” in national reporting because many adults who are involved in or witness violence are “less willing to report it”.

Children may stay silent because:

• they fear retaliation
• they don’t want to upset parents
• they believe adults won’t listen
• they feel ashamed
• they think it’s normal
• they fear being labelled a troublemaker

This silence results in underreporting, making the problem look smaller than it truly is.

Signs Your Child May Be Experiencing School Violence

Parents should look out for:

• sudden mood changes
• reluctance to go to school
• stomach aches or headaches
• missing items or damaged school belongings
• withdrawal from friends
• changes in sleep or eating patterns
• irritability or aggression
• fear of specific classmates or teachers
• decline in academic performance

These signs do not always indicate violence, but they are important clues that something may be wrong.

How Schools Can Become Safer

The child gauge shows that violence prevention must include whole-school approaches that combine:

• behaviour support for teachers
• strong leadership
• predictable routines
• psychosocial support for learners
• safe reporting systems
• community engagement
• non-violent discipline training
• child-centred school policies

Schools must move away from punitive discipline and towards supportive, structured and holistic models of behaviour management.

How Parents Can Support School Safety

Parents play a vital role in shaping school culture and protecting children.

Here’s how parents can contribute:

Communicate with your child regularly

Ask open-ended questions about their day.

Build relationships with teachers

A supportive parent–teacher partnership improves safety.

Raise concerns early

Do not wait for issues to escalate.

Advocate for anti-bullying policies

Parents can push for clear interventions.

Support your child emotionally

Create a safe space at home where they can talk freely.

Teach empathy and kindness

Children who feel secure at home are less likely to bully others.

Monitor digital activity

Supervise online behaviour without invading privacy.

What Government and Educators Must Do

The child gauge outlines several areas where systemic improvements are needed:

• enforce the SACE Sanctioning Policy consistently
• train teachers in non-violent discipline
• provide support for teacher mental health
• improve data collection on school violence
• strengthen the NSVS
• invest in school infrastructure
• expand psychosocial services for learners
• collaborate with families and communities

Without these systemic shifts, schools will continue to mirror the broader violence epidemic affecting South African society.

Final Thoughts

School safety is not just an education issue. It is a child development issue, a mental health issue and a societal wellbeing issue. The Child Gauge 2025 makes it clear that violence in schools is part of South Africa’s wider ecosystem of harm, and until schools become safer, children cannot fully thrive.

But there is hope. With stronger policies, better teacher support, engaged parents and clear accountability, schools can become protective, nurturing spaces where children feel valued and safe.

Every child deserves to learn without fear. Every parent deserves the peace of mind that school is a safe home-away-from-home. And every school has the responsibility to make that vision a reality.

SOURCE: South African Child Gauge 2025 – Intersections of violence against women and children: Disrupting intergenerational harm