School caning sends combined messages to girls and boys

The Ministry of Education’s current disciplinary tips, together with caning for severe and repeat offences like vaping and bullying, have struck a nerve with me.

Full disclosure: I’m Gen X. I grew up with the cane – at house and in class. It was feared and generally, deserved. The cane’s impact was swift and painful. You didn’t overlook it, and also you additionally didn’t repeat the error – not less than not in the identical means.

It took me years to discern the distinction and now, as a mum or dad, it’s clear to me: Stopping behaviour shouldn’t be the identical as altering it.

To me, the cane taught compliance. It stopped the “bad” behaviour instantly. It taught me that authority had the ultimate phrase. On the flipside, it additionally taught me how to not get caught.

My good friend, Elena Ng, 46, shared how boys in her college who had been disciplined by the cane received extra artistic as a substitute – like smoking in secret spots or choosing fights off campus.

“Sure, the caning stopped them that week,” she mentioned. “But they just got sneakier.”

And that’s the downside. Caning will get you fast obedience, but it surely doesn’t produce accountability for the motion.

It additionally skips this deeper understanding that we would like from self-discipline: consciousness of hurt, possession of actions, repairing expertise and empathy.

And that hole issues extra now than earlier than. Because at the moment, bullying has modified. It shouldn’t be restricted to fights or name-calling. It could be social exclusion, harassment, on-line doxxing and like the 2024 case at Singapore Sports School, the sharing of humiliating faux photos.