The incident about a Malaysian female teacher who punished her student by forcing him to smoke continuously for four hours, four at a time (42 cigarettes altogether), has made international news. I read the article with great regret.
There is a tendency for people to resort to options triggered by anger rather than reasoning. Most likely the child will be mentally scarred and, on the positive side, might actually cease his smoking addiction. But surely there are more civilised alternatives than the form of torture which could affect the child's physical and mental health. I thought teachers are exposed to the subject of child psychology during their training...no?
I remember when I was in primary school how we looked up to our teachers. Some teachers were inspiring and caring. I recall one particular lady teacher who used to inspect our teeth and hair on regular basis. Till now I would cringe if I am out of toothpaste! And my English teacher, the late Mr Hamid who was a cousin to the first President of Singapore... he was such an enthusiastic teacher who obviously knew the value of the language and he taught with passion. I used to look forward to his lessons... and what about the teacher who taught us how to sew? She was such a gentle soul, she would even provide us with the materials to work on. Thanks to her, I can do hand stitch quite well.
At the boarding school, I encountered teachers who were patient,considerate and helpful to the point of being motherly.... Miss Chua, I really cannot forget her. Mrs Ang who got me interested in science and Cik Kalthum who never failed to praise our good work and our maths teacher Mr Chan....yes, we called him "Daguless" Chan (Bless him) as he had a double chin!
I would be lying if I did not have a share of bad teachers who I would rather forget. Sometimes you have forgotten what was it that brought about the ire of a teacher making her/ him unreasonably angry. We had this lady who used to come around during our evening preps with such a grumpy face and virtually screamed whenever she came across chattering girls. And this teacher, a spinster who shouted at me for clearing out the dishes when the cookery lessons had not yet ended. Till today I can still visualise her furious face and I used to dislike her lessons.... maybe that is why I am not a great cook!
Teachers , how have you all influenced us and oft times, shape our outlook of life!
There is a tendency for people to resort to options triggered by anger rather than reasoning. Most likely the child will be mentally scarred and, on the positive side, might actually cease his smoking addiction. But surely there are more civilised alternatives than the form of torture which could affect the child's physical and mental health. I thought teachers are exposed to the subject of child psychology during their training...no?
I remember when I was in primary school how we looked up to our teachers. Some teachers were inspiring and caring. I recall one particular lady teacher who used to inspect our teeth and hair on regular basis. Till now I would cringe if I am out of toothpaste! And my English teacher, the late Mr Hamid who was a cousin to the first President of Singapore... he was such an enthusiastic teacher who obviously knew the value of the language and he taught with passion. I used to look forward to his lessons... and what about the teacher who taught us how to sew? She was such a gentle soul, she would even provide us with the materials to work on. Thanks to her, I can do hand stitch quite well.
At the boarding school, I encountered teachers who were patient,considerate and helpful to the point of being motherly.... Miss Chua, I really cannot forget her. Mrs Ang who got me interested in science and Cik Kalthum who never failed to praise our good work and our maths teacher Mr Chan....yes, we called him "Daguless" Chan (Bless him) as he had a double chin!
I would be lying if I did not have a share of bad teachers who I would rather forget. Sometimes you have forgotten what was it that brought about the ire of a teacher making her/ him unreasonably angry. We had this lady who used to come around during our evening preps with such a grumpy face and virtually screamed whenever she came across chattering girls. And this teacher, a spinster who shouted at me for clearing out the dishes when the cookery lessons had not yet ended. Till today I can still visualise her furious face and I used to dislike her lessons.... maybe that is why I am not a great cook!
Teachers , how have you all influenced us and oft times, shape our outlook of life!
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1 comment:
Wow - another Marcella interested in SIME-DARBY. W/B marcy.sime@yahoo.com, please :)
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