A Holistic Approach to Safety and Security at Schools in South Africa

Abstract

This article reviews literature on school safety and security and proposes a holistic approach to safety and security at schools in South Africa. This is based on the fact that ensuring a safe and secure school has become an important part of schooling in South Africa. This is due to the many reported incidents of violence at schools, in classrooms and in immediate school communities. Based on the view of the school environment as comprising physical and psychosocial spaces, I argue that the safety and security of the physical environment is a critical enabling factor for the safety of the whole school and also lays the basis for the safety of the psychosocial environment. Therefore ensuring school safety and security requires a holistic approach that encompasses a thorough grounding in knowledge about the school environment and the basics of school safety. Based on these arguments, I make the point that school facilities maintenance and surveillance of the school environment are critical aspects of a holistic approach to safety and security of a school. With this in mind, I present an approach that can be helpful in making schools safe and secure.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p1580