An investigation of safety and security measures at secondary schools in Tshwane, South Africa

Abstract

Violence in schools creates a climate of insecurity and fear, which impairs and impacts on the core educational purpose of schools. Accordingly, the main purpose of installing and implementing security measures at schools is to create a safer environment wherein individuals can move freely and feel secure in going about their daily schooling activities. The nature and extent of school violence was briefly examined within this study to assess the effectiveness of security measures within the schools. It is important for any institution to first examine and identify the specific risks it is facing before those risks can be addressed successfully. Security measures are valuable and helpful resources that can assist in creating safe and secure school environments. As this study highlighted, the more security measures a school had, the safer the scholars and the educators felt and the lower their crime rates appeared to be.