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ERIC Number: EJ1198850
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Oct
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0256-0100
EISSN: N/A
Bullying in School Toilets: Experiences of Secondary School Learners in a South African Township
Ngidi, Ndumiso Daluxolo; Moletsane, Relebohile
South African Journal of Education, v38 suppl 1 Article 1588 Oct 2018
This article reports on a qualitative study that explored bullying in the learner toilets of a township secondary school in South Africa and the reasons for its persistence in this particular school. The exploratory study used focus group discussions to collect data to address the research question. Newman's 'defensible space' framework, which stipulates that the design of an area, as well as its physical settings, can facilitate violence, informs data analysis. In the study, learners experienced toilets as the most dangerous areas inside their school, reporting that they encountered a lot of bullying in these spaces. In particular, bullying in the school toilets was characterised by violence, including physical and sexual assaults, as well as criminal activity (mostly muggings) and threats of violence. According to learners, the toilets and what happened within them were removed and hidden from the teachers' view and supervision, leaving the victims at the mercy of the bullies and perpetrators of violence. Informed by these findings, we conclude that because of their physical design and location within the school, which made it difficult to exercise any supervisory duties or to enforce security measures and protect learners, the toilets in this school remained indefensible spaces.
Education Association of South Africa. University of Pretoria, Centre for the Study of Resilience, Level 3, Groenkloof Student Centre, Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, George Storrar Road and Lleyds Street, Pretoria 0001, South Africa. Web site: http://www.sajournalofeducation.co.za/index.php/saje/index
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A