SCHOOLS are educational institutions where students are guided with knowledge and life lessons that cannot be personally taught by their parents at home.
Students who disobey school rules could be punished by the disciplinary councils of their schools.
As a practice, senior teachers are made members in disciplinary council entrusted to monitor students’ discipline.
Our parents tell stories of their teachers being very strict to ensure they follow school rules.
If they were caught breaking the rules, disciplinary action would be taken against them.
If their teachers caught them skipping classes, they were spanked in front of other students.
Today, it is a different story. Students, it seems, cannot be punished.
When I was a Form One student in a religious boarding school, I was once slapped by my mathematics teacher for failing my test.
It was my wake-up call to do better in my year-end examination.
In fact, most well-performing students in my school had similar experiences.
We were always closely monitored by our teachers, especially wardens.
I believe every boarding school has similar rules. In my opinion, punishments in schools should be specifically spelt out for each infraction.
Students should be given advance written notice about disciplinary actions they would face in the event of a breach of a rule.
This also gives teachers awareness of the kind of disciplinary actions they can take. No more random punishment, so to speak.
Body-contact punishment, like spanking, is permissible if it
does not cause injuries to students.
The recent case of a teacher slapping a student in Negri Sembilan and the subsequent trouble he got into should serve as a lesson for both teachers and parents.
Being a teacher is not easy. They play big role in shaping future leaders of the country. Their punishments are not meant to hurt, but to make us better people.
Amerul Azry Abdul Aziz
Kuala Lumpur