No teacher disciplines our child... except us

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

SINGAPORE - "No one has the right to discipline my child except myself and my husband," says Mrs Jacqueline Sng, who has a 15-year-old daughter. Her daughter is a special needs child but attends a regular school.

The finance controller, who declines to elaborate on her daughter's condition, says: "There have been many occasions when teachers have called up to complain about my daughter, but only once when a teacher actually shouted at her and pushed her to a 'naughty corner'."

She recalls the incident, which took place two years ago, that nearly had her filing a complaint with the Ministry of Education.

A relief teacher had told her daughter several times in the week to hand in her art homework, but the then Secondary 1 student did not comply.

Says Mrs Sng: "My daughter either forgot or when she remembered, the teacher did not demand it from her.

"And on a Friday, the teacher suddenly flared up and shouted at my daughter, 'Why have you not handed in your work?'

"Of course, the child's response was, 'You didn't ask me for it.' And because of that, the teacher dragged my daughter by her blouse collar to the corner of the classroom and made her stand there for 30 minutes."

Mrs Sng felt that the "punishment" was too harsh because as teenagers, "face is very important".

"My daughter felt so humiliated and when she returned home, she locked herself up in her room for the rest of the night," recounts Mrs Sng.

"My husband and I could only pry the details out from her two days later."

That Monday, both parents went to the school and demanded an apology from the teacher.

"If the teacher had not apologised, I'd have gone to higher authorities," says Mrs Sng.

She admits she falls into an extreme end of the spectrum, but says it is not unusual that Singaporean parents will not allow teachers to discipline their children.

Out of 30 parents randomly approached on Friday, nine said they want teachers to leave discipline issues with parents.

"My son is so precious to me and it's not up to the teacher to punish him," says housewife Rosaline Chee, 40, who has an 11-year-old boy.

"If he misbehaves and has to be taken into hand, leave it to the parents. Teachers should focus on their role as educators."

Madam Chee says she prefers that her son's teacher inform her of his misbehaviour and leave it to the parents to talk things through.

"Just as teachers find it hard to carry out corporal punishment as times have changed, parents also have a different approach to bringing up children now."

- See more at: http://www.edvantage.com.sg/content/....1FL7l0b0.dpuf


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