Personally, I feel, today our new generation kids are too well protected, so much so, maybe they cannot withstand setbacks, knocks and not too friendly remarks.
Hi Tom,
You're quite right.....
Through no fault of ours, kids/youngsters these days are indeed better shielded against 'the storms of the world' - as my mum likes to say. We've been brought up to expect 'soft talk', lots of rationalisation, time-out approach, counselling, reinforcements (positive or negative), etc.
The reverse psychology approach of 'giving you the rod to shock you to sensibilities' no longer works in this day & age. When I was young, my father used to regale me with stories of his childhood days & how his parents used to drum into the children - it was either you studied hard & made it in life or end up being a 'kopi kia' or road-sweeper. This threat will not work today simply because there aren't many kopi boys or road sweeping jobs around! Technology has seen to Starbucks & Sembcorp taking over respectively. Otherwise, the low end mudane jobs are taken over by PRCs, as we've discussed at length at other threads.
Back to the topic, schools are very much aware of the changing parenting trends & mindsets. During my JC days, we had pretty intensive discussions and even projects about the consequences of teenage sex. No longer did parents, schools or authorities preach top-down about the perils & consequences of such acts but engage students in the whys.
Because we were deeply involved in the subject, we got to see the rationale ourselves. We even interviewed young teenaged girls in shelter homes regarding their unwanted pregnancies and the impact on their young lives. Of course, it was an emotional project to undertake, especially for girls like myself. Between empathy & rationalisation, we've learned to take care of ourselves. If not, who will?
I don't think parents over-reacted in the above case about the ITE threat. Every parent loves his / her offsprings, it is only natural to protect them as long as they possibly can. My grandad still nags at my father sometimes, would you believe it??
I feel that the principal should have used statistics and examples to show the girls rather than resorting to the 'do it or die' mentality. The principal could have called for parents' conference too. Isn't parent-teacher collaboration a big thing these days? It was the first week of school, no less. No one likes to start their new year hearing insinuations that they're losers and will not make it. Not even 16-year-olds, I'm sure.
I'm not saying that she should not have used this approach at all. I just feel that it should only be used as a last resort, that is, if all else fails..... Perhaps, that would go down better with the students, parents & members of the public.
Just my thoughts..
