{"id":6834,"date":"2025-05-12T11:51:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T11:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=6834"},"modified":"2025-05-12T11:51:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T11:51:41","slug":"bullying-trauma-haunts-schools-as-new-term-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=6834","title":{"rendered":"Bullying Trauma Haunts Schools as New Term Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Harare Correspondent<br>As schools reopen this week, a dark cloud of anxiety hangs over Travor Mahlanze&#8217;s son, a Form Three student at St Ignatius College, whose school uniform now triggers traumatic memories of a brutal assault by senior students last term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Father&#8217;s Anguish<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mahlanze&#8217;s voice trembles as he recounts discovering his son&#8217;s injuries:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;His arm was in a sling, grotesquely swollen. The hospital confirmed a fracture and infection \u2013 but the psychological damage runs deeper.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The assault occurred when five Upper Six students ambushed the boy en route to his hostel. Despite the school&#8217;s &#8220;zero-tolerance&#8221; bullying policy, Mahlanze claims the perpetrators received only a two-week suspension and community service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;They prioritized rehabilitating the bullies over protecting my son,&#8221; said Mahlanze, who resigned as school treasurer in protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Now he panics in crowds, reliving the attack.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>National Bullying Epidemic<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This case reflects Zimbabwe&#8217;s wider school violence crisis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>2023: A 15-year-old Bulawayo student died by suicide after chronic bullying<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Same year: Msengezi High student suffered a broken jaw<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2024: Ruwangwe Day Secondary viral video showed girls assaulting a peer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>UNESCO&#8217;s 2019 report reveals alarming statistics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>47.1% of Zimbabwean students experience monthly bullying<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Physical bullying most prevalent (23.1%)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Girls disproportionately targeted (50.1% vs boys&#8217; 43.9%)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Nearly every boarding school student has a bullying story,&#8221; notes Professor Fred Zindi&#8217;s research, suggesting underreporting by schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Official Responses<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ministry of Education spokesperson Taungana Ndoro emphasized:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Our 2023 circular mandates all schools to implement anti-bullying policies with clear reporting protocols and psychosocial support.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harare police spokesperson Inspector Luckmore Chakanza warned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We treat school violence as criminal. Students can directly report to police for prosecution.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psychological Toll<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clinical psychologist Dr. Monica Chingwizi explains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This isn&#8217;t &#8216;kids being kids.&#8217; Victims develop anxiety, depression, and academic decline. Bullies often mirror behaviors from home or media.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She advocates for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>School-wide empathy programs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consistent policy enforcement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Parent-teacher collaboration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Path Forward<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After ministry intervention, Mahlanze reports:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Officials are revisiting the school&#8217;s decision. We need real change, not empty policies.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As classrooms refill, educators face mounting pressure to transform schools from battlegrounds to safe havens \u2013 where uniforms symbolize learning, not trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Zim GBC News\u00a9\ufe0f<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harare CorrespondentAs schools reopen this week, a dark cloud of anxiety hangs over Travor Mahlanze&#8217;s son, a Form Three student at St Ignatius College, whose school uniform now triggers traumatic&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6836,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6834\/revisions\/6836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}