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It has been almost 10 years since Helge Janssen was forced into early retirement after 18 years on the job.
Janssen was pushed out of teaching after refusing to be bullied by pupils at a Durban high school.
He believes if nothing is done about bullying and violence in schools, more teachers could be forced out, or even die.
Recently at least three videos showing teachers and pupils in physical confrontations were widely shared on social media.
In another video two girls are seen attacking each other with fists and kicks while a crowd of largely girl pupils watches, cheers and records the violence on cellphones.
The altercation stops when a boy pupil runs to the scene to end the fight. Then the crowd laughs at the pupil on the floor when they see she has wet herself.
Michael Mayor, principal of Sir John Adamson High, where the incident allegedly happened, said he was unaware of the incident and had not been exposed to the video.
However, he said he could not rule out that the incident happened.
“It is a high school so there will be things happening, such as altercations between pupils, but this is more common with boys. When such cases arise we have a code of conduct, and we call the parents,” said Mayor.
He said there have never been altercations between teachers and pupils at the school.
“Sometimes you do find pupils being disrespectful, but we deal with it quickly. In high schools pupils will disagree, but we try to control it,” Mayor said.
He said the school has life coaches and relies on curriculum to educate pupils when dealing with violence incidents.
Mayor believes violence is informed by parenting, or a lack of it, and the environments in which pupils find themselves outside the schooling system.
Janssen believes the videos of violence in schools are just the tip of an iceberg.
“The contempt with which the education department treats its educators is alarming,” he said.
He alleged he did not get any joy from the education department following his own experiences of violence in a school.
“It [violence] affected me badly. I started to feel suicidal. I went to see a doctor and he put me on two months of sick leave.
“During my sick leave I tried to contact the education department, the SA Council for Educators (Sace), the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union and all structures meant to support me, but I received no help. I decided not to return to the school because I had no certainty the situation would be better.
“I couldn’t even get support from the head boy and girl because they were too afraid,” Janssen said when he spoke about his ordeal at Brettonwood High School in Durban.
Janssen said he was driven to the point of emotional and psychological collapse.
“I refused to return to that school after my sick leave. I could not get support from inspectors, unions or the department of education. Instead, the department dismissed me on the grounds that I was employed on a fixed term contract, but nobody can find the contract.
“From that extreme disturbance I found it impossible to put my foot in the classroom again. And the lack of response from the education department proved they have no concern for educators.
“Staff allowed pupils to roam around school. There was a thug mentality in the school. Pupils in Grade 11 would disrupt the class for no reason, and the victimisation was ongoing during every lesson.
“I tried everything. I called the headmaster to address the matric pupils at least three times, but it made no difference.
“One shocking incident I recall was that of a pupil who was stabbed with a knife during a Life Orientation class over a fight about PT shorts.
“My life was threatened by a pupil who I didn’t even teach. I told officials in the school, and they said he was a known troublemaker, but there was no investigation.
“There was violence and a lack of cooperation. Pupils refused to do homework or any consolidation work in the classroom. They would talk in class and eat in class. Teaching was simply impossible,” said Janssen.
He said he considered himself a well-informed and dedicated educator whose pupils boasted a 98% matric pass rate.
Janssen says the experience traumatised him and led to early retirement.
“I became self-employed, making fabric wallets and sling bags and earning a subsistence income selling my wares at markets. I was evicted from the flat in which I had been living for 16 years because I fell into arrears with rent.”
Sace said no cases of violence at schools have been formally reported to the council.
Thembani Ndhlovu, Sace spokesperson, said most of the council’s statements and reactions have been responses to videos and tip-offs on social media.
“We always advise teachers to formally report cases when we meet with them so we can provide support. Some of the support we offers to teachers includes going to physically see them. We also are able to provide counselling, where necessary. We encourage teachers not to despair and urge them to continue educating our nation.”
Ndhlovu said one incident brought to their attention involved a Grade 7 pupil who allegedly slapped a principal.
“We are still waiting for a formal complaint to address this matter,” he said.
The department of basic education said it did not have statistics for reported incidents of pupil to teacher violence, teacher to pupil violence and violence among pupils.
Kwazi Mthethwa, media liaison in the office of the deputy director of the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for education dropped the phone, having not responded to questions about Janssen’s experience of violence and dismissal.
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