16/04/2021
MESSAGE AGAINST BULLYING AT SCHOOLS AND IN OUR SOCIETY
Issued by the National Children’s Ministry of the AFM of SA
As the National Children’s Ministry, we note with sadness and disappointment the loss of precious young life - a girl, Lufuno Mavhunga in one of the schools in Venda; Mbilwi Secondary School due to bullying by a fellow learner. Whilst we condemn this bad practice in our schools, we need to address it broadly and discourage it to ensure the safety of our children at schools. The Word of God teaches us that we are made in God’s image and that we should love one another. This tragic event clearly shows the absence of love and the quest to inflict maximum pain on fellow human beings, especially amongst our children.
What really disturbed us, is that during the incident, some of the children were cheering in jubilation instead of stopping this and making peace in accordance to Matthew 5:9 which says “...blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God”. At least in the video that went viral, some of the children did try to stop the bullying, but the emotional scars of the victim were so deep that the young girl decided to prematurely end her precious life and the perpetrator was arrested. This is a sad end and outcome of bullying in our schools; the lives of our children are destroyed and end tragically.
We call upon School Management Teams, educators, children, parents, guardians, the church at large and law enforcement agencies to deal with the issue of bullying as expeditiously as possible where and when it happens. This has become a thorn in the flesh of our society and we are losing precious lives as a result of this malice. We need to PRAY for our children and educate them about the effects of bullying and discourage them from participating or involving in such callous acts. We also call upon Education District Support Services to provide counselling and psychosocial support as a preventative intervention and as support where the bullying took place.
We also encourage all Children Ministry educators to include aspects of bullying in their lessons and activities so that we can curb this disturbing trend. We trust the Lord in helping us in guiding and educating our children to refrain from bullying and inflicting physical and emotional pain on their peers and other children.
Date: Friday, 16 April 2021
The AFM of SA National Children's Ministry Kids at AFM AFM National Youth
