Uncertain times

A global financial fallout, violent protests in Thailand, terrorist attacks in India...these are certainly uncertain times...and they seem to be getting closer and closer to home...

Bullying or Prank?

Bullying or just a prank in good fun? This came after I'd read an article about the rise of crimes among female teens, and a novel about a high school massacre by a boy who had been bullied in school (Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult), so I am more inclined to think negatively of this incident. What do you think? Here's the forum discussion of this issue on STOMP:  http://talkback.stomp.com.sg/forums/showthread.php?t=50720&page=17

BIRTHDAY PRANK GONE TOO FAR?

Kenny Chee/My Paper/14 Nov 08 

A VIDEO clip of a birthday prank filmed in an elite school has caused an up-roar among netizens. 

In the video, which is more than 10 minutes long , a n Anglo-Chinese Junior College student was tied to a chin-up bar, had cake stuffed in her face, and was humiliated right within the school’s premises. 

“Is this how you celebrate other people’s birthdays – by humiliating them?” said forum poster 

frodonet at Hardwarezone.com. Stomp poster justafool said: “Definitely not the type of classmates I want my kids to be with nor the type of school I want 

them to attend!” 

The video was first uploaded on YouTube last month, but was taken down. It was then posted on Stomp and other video-sharing sites yesterday. The clip started with a birthday celebration for the girl in the school canteen. But things took a turn when at least four female schoolmates carried the girl to a chin-up bar. They tied her wrists to the posts of the bar despite the struggling girl’ s cries of “no”. Some onlooking male students encouraged the prank. After she was tied, her schoolmates cheered and clapped. 

When the girl suddenly became quiet and hung her head, one student told her not to cry. But this was shortly followed by creamy food items being stuffed in her face and later into her uniform. Milk and an assortment of drinks were then poured on her. The helpless girl resumed screaming. At one point, she shouted: “ I really hate all of you!” Her schoolmates responded by singing a birthday song. 

An ACJC staff member who was passing by stopped to reprimand the students. “What’s going on?” he said. One female student replied that they would clean up the premises. 

Many who had watched the video or heard about it did not approve of t he prank. ACJC alumnus Mark Zhang , 24 , thought “tying up someone was a bit too much”.  The mechanical engineering student at the National University of Singapore said that while birthday pranks are “fairly common in secondary schools and JCs”, it is usually boys who are targeted. 

Shocked Stomp poster lucky123 said JC pranks on birthday boys, such as pushing the boy into a tree or a pole, “pale compared to (the video)”. 

Still, some do not think there is anything wrong. 

“It ’s just a hazing,” said Stomp poster kennynaboo. “Why get so worked up? Birthday and initiation ‘sabotages’ are part and parcel of growing up.” 

ACJC’S RESPONSE

I refer to your queries about a post put up by a Stomper regarding a birthday celebration for an ACJC student. The school is aware of the incident, which was a celebration for a student who is popular with her peers. 

We understand that the student was prepared for the celebration, and that there was no malice or bullying involved. 

When a teacher saw the celebration, he stopped it immediately and counselled the students. The birthday girl also assured the teacher that she was not physically or emotionally hurt. 

Some weeks after the event, a teacher again enquired about the girl’s well-being, and she assured the teacher and the school that the celebrations were carried out in the spirit of good fun and that she was well. 

Although the activity was done in good humour, the college has counselled the students involved on the possible hazards of such activities, and explained that there are more appropriate ways to express their friendship among peers. 

Mrs Kelvyna Chan 

Principal, Anglo-Chinese Junior College 

 

 

Primary school...kids!

Relief teaching in a primary school reminds me of the reasons why I shunned primary school teaching! They are cute, but you certainly need to be very organised, firm, focused and preferably motherly when you teach in a primary school...all of which I certainly am not!
I've been teaching post-PSLE P6 students...the worst kids to teach! Most of them are just coming because they don't have a choice, and just want to have fun....but the school wants to prepare them for secondary school...good idea, but you feel kind of sorry for them because they are already in a holiday mood.
I also taught P2s yesterday. Cute but talkative! I brought them to the computer lab to entertain them...and these 8 year old girls started to show me a website that they found really funny - where cute rabbits had their tongues cut off and brains were blown...yes, it was a Happy Tree Friends ecard website!! I didn't know one can send Happy Tree Friends ecards!!
Goodness...I had all these memories of GP discussions of the effects of children watching Happy Tree Friends...and it was all unfolding before my very eyes! Desensitization and the effects of the media! What will our next generation be like?!?

Shantou, China

Do any of my 'loyal' readers out there come from Shantou or know what it's like to live there? Looks like China will be my next port of call....

US President

Obama is the new US president! Pretty amazing! But it'll be a seriously tough job....

The biggest elections of the year!

As usual, the US elections is such a long-drawn process that you sometimes wish they'll just get it done and over with. But this year's elections has been a pretty interesting one, what with the Clinton-Obama upset and the choice of Sarah Palin for VP, not forgetting how the recent economic downturn has seemed to turn the tide a little. Anyway, will be a pretty exciting race for the top position in the world (it still is!), so don't forget to catch it on TV or in the papers!

Right now, the polls are largely in Obama's favour (and I would vote for him if I could!), but most Americans still don't seem to be ready for a black president. As seen in past elections, pre-election day polls aren't usually very accurate, and some Americans may 'say one thing and do another'. Even if Obama is elected, the death threats that he's gotten recently might not be the last...and it can be pretty dangerous for him. John McCain seems ok, but I don't quite like his choice of Palin for VP, she seems to be over-playing the sensationalism card.

If you want an update on the elections, here are some websites to go to: http://uspolitics.america.gov/uspolitics/elections/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/