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Online Reporter
THE Chronicle story of two Form four pupils at Sobukhazi High School in Bulawayo who were suspended from school two weeks ago after they were caught having sex in a classroom in broad daylight has sparked outrage among readers.
A source at the school said the incident occurred last Wednesday afternoon and the two, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were interrupted by a curious junior pupil who heard moaning sounds and rushed to alert school officials.
The incident comes two weeks after a Form Three pupil at the same school gave birth to a baby boy in a school toilet and tried to hide it.
Below are selected comments from readers who were livid after reading the story. (Note the grammatical mistakes have not been corrected).
“The laws governing the upbringing of children are too, too lax and need to be revisited. Our children are lacking in moral uprightness. The Headmaster and the teachers are no longer able to instill discipline in our Children. The current laws have destroyed our future generation. Bafa abantwana bethu ngenxa yemithetho yama Brishity (democracy is not workable at all).” – Jotham
“Spare the rod spoil the child…” – Memo
“Remember that discussion last week about long hair and corporal punishment in schools. We were saying we need to re-visit the constitution urgently and I was castigated by fellow citizens. Khangelani osekwenzakala ezikolweni. Students know that even the Head cannot administer corporal punishment. The best Heads can do is to suspend them for two weeks, punishment of which students will love because in this Sobukazi case, they will have two weeks ukuthi beqedelane proper. Heyi madoda, kodwa shuwa kubizwa kuthiweni?” – Seles
“Disciplining children is not about hitting them, they can be punished or spoken to in strong words. It is wrong for school authorities to act as if they cannot enforce discipline in the school, otherwise they are breeding future criminals. l remember during my school days you could be punished for misbehaving and be ordered to pick papers in the school premises or worse still to clean the corridor.” – Ubabamkhulu
“We also used to have a situation if you misbehave you might be called and questioned in front of others during assembly time. The senior teacher took advantage that he was used to public speaking and for the pupil it will be hard to speak in front of a crowd. Then punishment will be announced who will dare repeat the same thing after such humiliation? Or worse the parents or guardians will be summoned to the school headmaster’s office and you will be required to narrate your story in front of them, honestly will you dare repeat being naughty after such an experience?” – Qude
“The leadership at this school is also to blame for not enforcing strict disciplinary procedure. The school head should be removed and replaced with an ex zdf.” – Xaba
“No no no! Please do not blame the leadership at the school. Have you forgotten how Minister Dokora recently publicly stated that he was drastically reducing the power of school heads? And have you forgotten how it has become illegal to administer corporal punishment even at family level? Let’s direct our blame to the right target, a government that is adopting alien tendencies into our laws and culture, a blundering Minister of Education who wants to make waves never mind the consequences…..” – Makate
“Blame the parents for the loose morals of their kids.” – Bayadlala Laba
“Did these two use condoms? Is there a teacher responsible for advising these kids at this school? Is there any sexual education at this school? These kids need guidance.” – Lihlo Likazuku
“You can blame whoever you want but the buck ultimately stops with the two. All teenagers have cravings. Hell I had them when I was a teenager too but there is what is called discipline, self-control, which is what was lacking from these two.” – Musa
“I thought this was the busiest time for students/pupils to put the final efforts in their studies in order to pass the more difficult Zimsec exams. Surely what is going on in our schools?” – Martin Chipimo
“It’s stress management. This is the time when you hear of weird tokoloshi attacks at boarding schools. This is the time for silly strikes and drink fueled fights. O’level students cannot handle stress during this time and a lot depend on marijuana and other drugs. Parents shld not put more pressure on their children, but shld assist them to take it easy.” – blara zonke
“One then wonders why we have teenage pregnancies and high rates of HIV, and to make matters worse another scholar giving birth at the same school.” – Johnzo
“Why are our children turning into animals? Are we failing as parents or these are signs of the end of time? Head, this has nothing to do with your admin capabilities but don’t be defensive. After all bad news sells fast.” – Samu Ncube
“Civil society organizations, CBOs and FBOs who are into Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights programming- here is a call for your interventions. Lokhu kungaphezu kukamphathisikolo logatsha lwezomfundo!”– Thembani Nyoni
Online Reporter