This article addresses the importance of training students in leadership skills to the benefit of the community's well-being, with emphasis on the positive and negative roles sometimes served by student leaders in schools for Blacks in South Africa and with examples of positive leadership training programs. (DB)

Student leadership can become a malevolent force which can destroy or undermine individuals as well as the school community. Student leaders' roles in schools can also, however, be benevolent, leading to both personal development and school/community development. In schools for blacks in South Africa, black power and student power may combine to…