Despite the fact that corporal punishment was outlawed in South African 23 years ago, it seems like that memo never reached Paarl Boys’ High School.

Students and parents spoke with News24 on condition of anonymity, singling out deputy headmaster and head of discipline, Richard Visagie. According to six sources, he’s a fan of dishing out spankings with a cricket bat and planks.

The school has denied the allegations, but the parents remain unimpressed:

“You get whacked arbitrarily in passages for things – if you don’t greet with the right attitude, if you are being ‘clever’… The culture of the school is one of violence,” said the parent.

According to the parent, punishment ranges from the “five-star treatment” – a hard slap on the back, which leaves the marks of the fingers and thumb; “jungle justice”, which is meted out between peers, and being hit with a plank or cricket bat in Visagie’s office.

So when they’re not dishing out the beatings on the rugby field, having poached all the talent from surrounding schools, they’re engaging in “jungle justice”? Got it.

I guess vigilantism starts at school.

Also, does every Afrikaans school have a teacher called Visagie who bliksems you? Seems like it.

Folks, meet Dick Visagie:

Getting a bit of a Miss Trunchbull from Matilda vibe there.

According to one pupil, Visagie’s room was jokingly referred to as ‘the dungeon’, although the same pupil called him an excellent English teacher and rugby coach.

Parents are hesitant to speak out, or report it to the school, fearing that their child will suffer negative repercussions.

Some say that the school actually informs the parents of the policy up front:

[A former pupil] alleged that his parents were told during his entrance interview for a highly sought-after place at the pristine government school, that corporal punishment was practised.

His parents were asked if they were “okay” with it and, since it had been a part of schooling from their era, they did not object.

The former pupil’s first hiding was after being sent out of class in Grade 8 for not doing his homework. He was called into Visagie’s office and allegedly beaten with a plank. “You must also thank him afterward,” he said.

The boys would draw stripes on the back of their school ties every time they were beaten. That become “like a badge” to compare who had been hit most.

The source said he had decided that it was better to get beaten with the plank as punishment and “get it over with”, than go to detention.

Thanks for the beating, Mr. Visagie – too kind of you.

The former pupil who spoke with News24 said that whilst not all teachers are on board with the methods (some would give out writing exercises as punishment to avoid the pupils receiving a klap), Visagie was not the only teacher who went with the old-school disciplinary measures:

[A] pupil, who matriculated in the early 2000s, said it wasn’t only Visagie who still practised corporal punishment, but at least two or three other teachers.

“I grew up in a house where corporal punishment was the norm. The school was a natural extension of home.”

Asked why they accepted illegal punishment from teachers, the man said they were told that “things had to be controlled in a way” at a boys’ school. He acknowledged that there were other ways to discipline boys, “but there weren’t any more cost-effective ways”.

You know how sometimes, in the movies, they make the person dig their own grave? Well…

The man [a former pupil] said Visagie’s “five-star treatment” was a common occurrence when boys neglected or forgot to do their homework.

“He would stand behind you and hit you very hard between the shoulder blades. His red hand marks were visible on our backs. Repeat offenders were given a screwdriver to unscrew the wooden plank at the back of their school benches, which Visagie then used to give them a hiding with. Afterward, they had to screw the plank back onto the bench.”

Another former pupil spoke of Grade Eight boys crying after getting Visagie’s “five-star” treatment, with blue marks visible on their backs the following day.

As you can imagine, both the principal, Derek Swart, and the chairperson of the school governing body (SGB), Ritzema de la Bat, issued strongly-worded denials:

“Absolutely not. It’s illegal, and all staff members are aware of it,” said De la Bat.

De la Bat said, besides being illegal, corporal punishment was also against the school culture of raising young men who would “have compassion, emotional strength and the ability to make a positive difference”…

Swart told News24: “It’s not our policy. There is no corporal punishment”…

“If something is reported, we will act on it immediately,” said Swart. “The whole purpose of the school is to produce young men who can make a positive contribution in a negative world.”

We would have loved to hear from Visagie himself, but he wasn’t allowed to be interviewed without permission from the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).

A charge of official misconduct was laid against Visage last year, for hitting a pupil, with the teacher receiving a final written warning and a fine in October.

A second complaint occurred in January, with this below from Jessica Shelver, spokesperson for Education MEC Debbie Schäfer:

“New complaints were received on the 23rd January 2019 from a doctor who was reportedly treating a learner that was assaulted.

“The parents of the alleged learner have reportedly again been reluctant to give consent for consultations. The matter is still under investigation.”

Shelver added that the complaints against Visagie have now been referred to the department’s labour relations unit for investigation.

I know there are many middle-aged men shaking their head right now, cursing out Millennials and snowflakes and other such terms, but should 13-year-old kids really be made to cry at school for a uniform infraction?

Should they end up with bruising on their backs, marking the number of beatings they received on the back of their ties like badges of honour?

I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, in a country that already has a massive problem with violence.

[source:news24]