F
Fu Xi
Guest
Oct 28, 2010
5 expelled for smoking
By Bryan Huang
Three of the boys, aged 14 to 16, are believed to be football players, while the other two are a silat exponent and a bowler. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN
FIVE Singapore Sports School students were expelled for smoking in school, local media reports said on Tuesday, sparking a debate about whether the punishment was too harsh. Three of the boys, aged 14 to 16, are believed to be football players, while the other two are a silat exponent and a bowler. According to The New Paper, the five were all repeat offenders.
The parent of 14-year-old bowler Lim Zheng told TNP she felt the expulsion was too harsh. Lim Zheng was expelled after he admitted to smoking on campus and had previously been caught for smoking in school in February. The school had warned him that there would be 'no second chances' and that he would be expelled if caught again.
A reader on the Straits Times' citizen journalism site Stomp felt that the protests showed parents here were too soft on their children. User antismoking said: 'After reading The New Paper article about the incident, and the fact that one of the parents of the student who got expelled brought the situation to light in the media, shows the wrong sort of attitude.'
'The parents are sending the wrong sort of message to their son. They are showing that what their son did was alright and that the school should be challenged for doing what the parents should have done in the first place, which was to discipline the child.' When contacted by TNP, Sports School's principal, Mrs Deborah Tan, said smoking is classified as a level 4 offence - the most serious of students' misdemeanours.
Students who commits two such offences faces expulsion. 'Singapore Sports School has a low threshold on indiscipline whether it involves staff or student-athletes. We will uphold rules and regulations to ensure a conducive environment for all student-athletes,' added Mrs Tan.
