Do
read my next press letter on the bullying that took place by school students.
Abuse
in any form at any place – be it at schools, in the community, on the roads, in
hospitals and in homes, etc, must never be tolerated. How would any parent feel
if their child was beaten up like this? To this end, I am glad that the online
community has come out strongly to condemn the bullying. We have to be mindful
that those who are abused or humiliated are prone in having to grapple with
mental health issues - sooner or later.
Singapore
is not a cowboy town where people can go around bashing up one another and
taking matters in their own hands.
Let’s
get students involved in worthy projects and community work; and everyone can
play their part to meet this objective. During the period when my wife was
alive, our church (Church of The Holy Spirit) carried out a project where
students from Raffles Institution (RI) spruced up our home for 6 weeks;
spending their Saturdays cleaning up our home and while doing so took the
opportunity to better understand my wife’s schizophrenia illness and learnt
from me how I have taken care of my wife, through the years.
Thus,
collaborations with churches on such useful and meaningful schemes should be
promoted.
Raymond's letter to The Straits Times: Teach students how to manage anger
My letter to The Straits Times on the above matter is published today, Tuesday 15th November 2016.
My former schoolmates and I are alumni of the St Andrew’s family of schools, and we were shocked at the bullying incident captured on video (“Video of boys beating another goes viral; police probing case”; last Saturday).
This has tarnished the school’s good reputation.
In life, conflicts are bound to occur from time to time, but they should never be allowed to escalate into unmanageable anger which leads to violence.
To enable students to better cope with uncontrollable emotions and anger, it would be useful to tie up with experts in anger management, such as those from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).
They could speak to educators, students as well as parents on how to better manage anger and emotions.
The IMH conducts talks at the hospital, as part of public mental health education. Schools could also take part in this programme.
Raymond Anthony Fernando
Sincerely,
Raymond
Anthony Fernando
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