Strategies Associated with the Management of School Violence in Secondary Schools in Anglophone Cameroon

The study sought to examine the strategies associated with the management of school violence in secondary schools in Anglophone Cameroon. Specifically, it examined the influence of disciplinary practices as well as school connectedness on the management of school violence in secondary schools in Anglophone Cameroon. A mixed method, concurrent explanatory design was adopted in carrying out the study. A sample of 364 secondary school teachers, drawn from 16 public secondary schools in Mezam and Fako Divisions of the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon were selected using the Krejcie and Morgan table of sample size determination, while from within the sample some teachers were further selected and interviewed. A structured close-ended likert-scale questionnaire for teachers, interview guide for teachers and focus group discussions for students were used to collect data. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (in the form of frequencies, percentages, charts and tables) and inferential statistics (the two-way ANOVA and Regression analysis). Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. The analysis revealed a statistically significant but weak positive relationship between disciplinary practices and the management of school violence. With an R value of 0.228 and a p-value of .000, the findings indicate that structured disciplinary approaches moderately contribute to the mitigation of violence in schools. However, the relatively low R Square (0.052) suggests that while discipline matters, it explains only a small portion of the variance in managing violence, implying the need for complementary strategies. The findings also showed a stronger positive and significant relationship between school connectedness and the management of violence, with an R value of 0.303 and a p-value of .000. This suggests that students who feel more connected to their school community, through positive relationships with peers, teachers, and a supportive school climate, are less likely to engage in or be affected by violence. School connectedness accounted for 9.2% of the variance in violence management, making it a meaningful predictor and an area of focus for intervention. Conclusively, disciplinary Practices and school connectedness have a significant influence on the management of school violence in secondary schools in Anglophone Cameroon. The study recommends the Ministry of secondary education to organize training programs that emphasize the adoption of proactive and restorative disciplinary strategies for educators in general and discipline masters in particular. By adopting such strategies, educators would serve as role models to students, which impact their morals and ensure a violence free academic environment. Teachers should also intensify efforts to build quality relationships with their students because these relationships enable students to easily open up to them in case of threats of violence both within schools as well as external threats.