Business as Usual

So yesterday while I was monitoring a grade 5 exam, I look outside and notice this teacher beatin the shit out of these little first graders with this tiny ass switch. They were doing class outside on the ground and everytime they did something incorrect, academically, they were hit. They were hunched over on the ground, but once they were hit they would stand and arch their backs in the same way you can imagine a slave getting whipped when they stick their chest to the sky. There wasn't much I could do (considering the last time I called out a teacher in front of students) so I just went and stood by the door and once she saw me watching her she stopped hitting them. Last night 2 more girls came and told me that they were beat by one of the hostel supervisors. (last week a group of children came to my house to report they were beat by a teacher, this was at 9pm, an hour after their bed time) In an effort to do something I went to the early meeting with one of the vice principals and the principal today. I told them that there is a problem with corporal punishment and they need to do something about it. The kids come and report everything to me. Two weeks ago they reported that 14 of them were beat for not completing their summaries. When I approached that teacher about other ways he could handle it, he said that when they are that defiant, he will beat them. So now the vice wants this teachers name. I ask her, "What will happen to the teacher then? I've come to this office several times about this issue and about specific teachers at times, but nothing has happened to them! Not even written documentation that anything ever happened." Here I am trying to hold him accountable and he's giving me the run around about how they shouldn't be hitting and how its always been a part of their culture since apartheid.. So we head to the staff room to have the normal morning meeting. He brings up the fact that he's asked them over and over not to hit the kids blah blah blah. Then another teacher asks, in a back handed slap-in-my-face kind of way, "isn't it true we are practicing other illegal methods of discipline? Like sending kids out of class?" Clearly referring to me, when kids are disruptive I don't feel they should be in the class ruining the educational experience of others, so they must take their desk outside the class and complete their work there. Or in the event they're done with their work, I give them a sheet of paper that usually says something like, 'I will respect my peers...' then they have to complete the sentence and give me a front and back explanation of why they did whatever they were doing and what they need to do next time. The real challenge for them is to be able to write in English for that long. I chose not to respond to this in the beginning, but then I just couldn't help it. My question, "Which one are parents going to be more concerned about?" To which I got no response, obviously. Then the question arose about why the learners are coming to me everytime something happens? To which I replied with a question, "if you were a child, would you report to someone who beats kids or someone who doesn't beat at all? They know I'm a safe space and that I would never hurt them, no matter what they do." So now everyone is under the impression that I'm the reason why the kids report to me. Most of the kids that report stuff aren't even in my class, they're lowerclassmen whom I've never met. But to the teachers, I'm a part of some conspiracy to report them to a higher power. Which I've already done, and sadly, nothing happened. Then I reminded the principal that when we were driving to the school, back in October 09, the FIRST thing he mentioned to me was that he didn't tolerate corporal punishment at his school, this statement followed by a drawn conclusion that he'd lied! And BOY did this cause quite a stir. The teacher sitting behind me says, "who the hell are you? He did not lie, how can you say that?" And in my attempt to respond she started yelling that I could go to hell and how can I say such things. So I start yellin for her to be quiet so I can answer, wrong method I know, then the rest of the staff intervened. Once I was given the opportunity to explain, I talked about the principals lack of action in this matter and how he clearly wasn't holding up his responsibility as he said he did in the beginning. Apparently, in this culture calling someone a liar is a big deal and very serious. Funny, corporal punishment is a big deal and is very serious. Then the inevitable happened, the teacher who wants to propose a solution. Not a bad idea right? A solution being the development of a disciplinary policy, which another teacher and I have been slowly working on. The issue I have with this is that I've found atleast 8 documents of school rules and policies that aren't being followed. The volunteer that was here 4 years ago attempted a discipline policy, I need to email him about the outcome of that, but either way nothing is being practiced now, which leads me to my concluding statement in this meeting, "We're gonna have to wait until a parent files a case against a teacher before you guys take this issue seriously!" In extreme c.p. cases parents file with the police department and only then is that school under the magnifying glass of the ministry of ed. Only then is it a 'problem.' Meeting adjourede. I went to my class and cried and cried and cried. Its not that I'm against the concept of a discipline policy, rather I have little to no faith in these teachers and their inability to implement a policy and actually follow it. I gave up on the teachers a long time ago. I'm fighting for my kids. That's who this is all about. It kills me to see them get beat with sticks or hoses or keys. The kids know I hate it, THATS why they come to me. You know, in the beginning when we were training they told us that we would see c.p. but honestly I didn't think it would bother me. The veteran volunteers would share their experiences about how they would just go into their classroom and cry, and I would be sittin there thinkin, 'wow, grow a pair.' That is until I experienced it for the first time. I was in the secretary's office and the principal came in with a boy who'd pierced his ear. The principal hit the boy upside his head with a closed and cupped hand while yelling about how boys in their culture aren't supposed to do that. I've exhausted the channels. I can't go to the principal anymore, thats useless. I've gone to his superior, who reminded me that its illegal, as if that alone meant it wasn't happening. I've gone to the regional counselor's office several times last year. I gave information to the school evaluation team that came. But nothing. Nothing has changed. No action has been taken. And though I will continue to assist in developing a discipline policy, I know that it won't change anything. What I CAN hope for is that when my kids become teachers, they remember me, how I treated them, how I dealt with discipline issues, how I stood up for them and how a true educator is supposed to communicate with their learners. And that is what I must always remind myself: The kids ARE sustainable.