A KUILS River mom has raised safety concerns about school fights at Sarepta Primary School after her son’s ear was bitten off by an attacker.
The shocking incident which occurred in the school toilets last week was allegedly initiated by a prefect who called the victim to the bathroom.
The mom, who asked not to be identified for her son’s safety, says they were left reeling in shock after hearing that her son’s attacker bit and ripped off a piece of his earlobe and merely spat out the human flesh after the bloody attack.
The kwaad mom explains: "The incident happened on 20 March. My son is in Grade 7 and so is the attacker.
"There are different stories about led up to this and it's very deurmekaar. But I can only tell what my son told me.
"He explained that on the day of the attack he was on his way out of the school grounds when he was called by a group of children who told him to go to the bathroom. He said they were persistent and he went and this is when he came across this boy and a prefect.
"He explained that the prefect took his hand and put it on the other boy’s face and the same was done to him and that is how the fight started."
The aggrieved mother says her husband was waiting in his car outside the school grounds waiting for the laaitie when he received a call from the school.
She adds: "They told him to come inside and that is when they explained there was a fight and my son’s ear was bitten off.
"What is so shocking is that the attacker allegedly clutched his arms, took a bite of the ear and just spat out the earlobe. This level of violence is very concerning and my young son recovered the piece of the ear on the bathroom floor.’
The learner was rushed to the local Netcare hospital where doctors were able to re-attach the earlobe, but his angry parents say as he returned to school this week he was made to write his exams isolated from his classmates.
The mom says: ‘There was no disciplinary action taken against the attacker and he is the one who should have been writing in isolation and is clearly a danger to other learners. We are upset that no action has been taken.’
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond confirms they are aware of the incident and says two meetings were already held and a follow up meeting with the parents is scheduked for Friday.
Hammond adds: "Thereafter, a decision on how to proceed will be made. This can be done restoratively, or through the school’s disciplinary processes.
"Both learners were given opportunity to write the assessment and be fetched immediately after they were done writing.
"The victim’s parents chose to keep their child at home, obviously in recovery, with completion of assessment tasks on another date as to the rest of the class.
"There is nothing unusual about this. There had been no prior incidents involving these learners."
