Pupils lead the march against abuse

Fouzia Van Der Fort|Published 1 year ago

Pictured in front, from left, are drill and marching band members Manisha Alcock from Eisleben Road Primary School, Tharwat Abrahams from Mitchell’s Plain Primary School, Entwone Smith from Littlewood Primary School, and Erin Albertus from Meadowridge Primary School.

Seven Mitchell’s Plain schools drilled and marched through the streets to raise awareness of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign.

They chanted “no violence” and showed some drill moves during the march from Jamaica Primary School, in Portland, to Summerdale High School, in Lentegeur, on Wednesday December 6.

It formed part of the metro south education district’s safe schools programme to create awareness and to teach pupils that it is important to stand for something.

Once in the Summerdale High School hall, they were joined by representatives from SAPS, the Metro Police and Law Enforcement.

The acting safe schools coordinator for the district, Sonia Alexander, said they wanted to reach the pupils in a fun and interactive way.

“We have seen an increase in violence among our learners in schools, which stems from our communities. We want to teach our children creative and constructive approaches to conflict resolution,” she said.

Ms Alexander said they hoped that the message would spread from the pupils to the community as they walked through the streets and participated in the programme with rapper Micheal Palmer.

She called on pupils and schools to reach out when they needed help by calling the toll-free safe schools' call centre at 080 045 4647.

Western Province Marching Band members led pupils from various Mitchell’s Plain primary schools.