Abstract

An exploratory, descriptive and contextual qualitative study to explore and describe the nature of violence, contributing factors and strategies that can be utilized to curb the violence was conducted among teachers and students in high schools in the Manzini Region of Swaziland. Purposive and convenient sampling techniques were used to select 8 to 10 teachers from each high school among the five schools to form a focus group for discussions. About 8-10 students were also selected from all the five schools to form a focus group for discussions. The  study observed high occurrence of violence among high school students in both urban and semi-urban areas. Most of the cases of violence were related to alcohol and drug abuse, which resulted in the disruption of teaching and learning, and created sour relationships between teachers and students. Types of violence described involved teachers beating up students, verbal show between teachers and students, fights between students against teachers as well as students fighting among themselves during school hours or sport days. Although not very common, some violence between students and parents often result to the death of the parent involved. The absence of counselling services for students among many schools is cited as a major contributor to decay in morals and behaviour among students finally leading to alcohol and drug abuse.