Sex, school and why it's all pear-shaped

Well, call me Mother Grundy, but I disapprove of sex at school. The report of the South African Human Rights Commission on school-based violence has me very worried. And well done to the commission, by the way, for keeping an eye on this particular issue.

The idea of school being a hotbed of violent sexual activity, in which sexual assault and harassment are commonplace, is appalling. Particularly for girls, the culture of learning is turning into something entirely foreign. Children reaching puberty younger; violence being such an endemic part of our lives; and our sexuality, as South Africans, make for a heady cocktail. Add big classes, and teachers who can’t manage those classes, and no wonder it is all feeling out of control. The legal liability of the Education Department aside, for allowing such unsafe conditions to persist, what can be done? After all, there aren’t enough lawyers to act for every child (and family) who endures these kinds of harm.

The common response I hear on radio talk shows is: “Hit them.” No. not the teachers, not the department, not the unions, who seem to resist any attempt to improve the quality of teachers; no, hit the kids.

Well, that’s an interesting response. Would walking up to members of my staff and hitting them over the head with a cricket bat improve their performance? Well, I might feel better, but I have to say that I just don’t see that strategy mentioned in the better management textbooks. Would it stop sexual harassment in my office? Well, there isn’t any in my office (although the two men on the staff have been heard to mutter about being pushed around), but let’s assume there was. Would I call the guys on the first floor to come and help me beat up the suspect? Would that help?

I just don’t think so. Even if it were legal to hit people, it just isn’t effective. Not when you are trying to stop violence. It’s like George Bush explaining how he wants peace as he ships more warheads into Europe. It’s like any fundamentally hypocritical response — kids see right though it. What is problematic is the hyper-sexualised adolescence most kids now endure, with a strong message that sex is cool and violence normal. How do you make school a place where learning is valued and the mind developed, rather than where boys get to hang out and harass girls?

Well, you have to take women and girls seriously. You have to spend time in the classroom talking about sex, consumerism and violence, and why harassment and bullying is not OK. Bearing in mind that the teacher who leads this discussion is probably being harassed in the staff room, on the taxi on the way home and possibly even hit at home, this is a big ask. We have to ask it anyway.