“Pull some dirty tricks, time for the stick.”
This motto kept me (mostly) well-behaved as a kid. No child, or adult, for that matter, ever wants to be on the receiving end of a cane.
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But you know, we all make mistakes. When you do something whack, your backside gets a smack.
Still, if you come back from a caning session with multiple bruises like you just got out of prison, you’d definitely be concerned.
Especially if you’re just a Primary Six kid.
Bruised
Ms Claire Kang had reported to the police on 3 September when her Primary Six son came home from school with cane marks on his arms and legs.
She mentioned that the school discipline headmistress and caned her son and another classmate without even informing their parents first. This was not proper procedure according to the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) guidelines.
Pretty sure this can classify as voluntarily causing hurt.
The discipline headmistress initially called the children to her office to deal with a fight that broke out between the students. She then scolded the boys and proceeded to cane them, leaving Ms Kang’s son crying after.
When they went home, his father saw the cane marks on his arms and legs and convinced the boy to explain the situation.
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You know, under point 88 of this Education Act, you can only cane a child on the hand or buttocks (only if clothed) and not the legs.
Also, permission needs to be granted by the principal, except when Ms Kang asked his form teacher and principal initially, neither mentioned that he had been caned.
Guess the discipline mistress herself didn’t seem to know the school rules?
Post-Incident Trauma
When the police came, Ms Kang’s son reenacted how exactly he was caned.
After the incident, her son is set to take his Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) next month, and would appear shocked and would cry when asked to go back.
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A MOE spokesman was informed of the incident on 4 September 2019 but declined to comment specifically on the incident. However, he did mention that the act of meting out discipline in schools should be an ‘educative process’.
“In deciding the best approach, schools will consider the circumstances of the case, including the age of the student, the severity of the student’s actions, and whether offences have been repeated.”
The school is under investigation and cannot provide further comments as of now.
Still, pretty sure if you broke your own education guidelines then maybe it’s not the child’s backside that should be whacked.
Also, discipline and causing hurt isn’t the same, take note, please.
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