罚站！

Posted by tyan (Singapore, Singapore) on 19 February 2008 in Art & Design.

Just a loose translation of my title:means to stand at a corner as punishment

We were walking around a shopping mall last Sunday and Caleb pointed at a mannequin standing by the display window and shouted,'罚站!'

It is quite funny that he actually thought the mannequin were made to stand as a form of punishment but on a more serious note,I thought it was quite strange because i have never used this term nor made him stand in a corner as punishment. So it was quite obvious that he probably picked up the term in school. So i asked him whether he was made to stand in a corner in school. I got confusing replies.

So yesterday,i met his teacher at the gate so i asked if Caleb was giving her trouble in school.She said he was ok.Then i narrated the mannequin incident to her and she revealed that Caleb is ok until he mixes with a particular boy,D,who is hyperactive and influences those around him.Then i remembered that D was the boy who pushed Caleb out of the playhouse during his orientation and made him cry. His parents were present and saw what happened but didnt correct him nor apologize.

I was a bit irritated. Well,no parent likes the idea that their children had been punished for bad behaviour and i am not trying to take sides,but i didnt have many problems with Caleb at home.Plus his teacher had praised him earlier for good behaviour in January,so i was quite shocked to learn that he had been influenced by D and punished.

I was also irritated that i wasnt told anything by the teachers. If we hadnt gone past the mannequins,i think i would never know about it. So i went on to ask what kind of bad behaviour Caleb displays when he was with D. Throwing toys and shouting. i asked if they could be separated and i was relieved to know that the teachers already paired them up separately.Now i'll just have to watch him at home and keep telling him what is acceptable behaviour and what is not.

Thinking further into the issue,i am awed by the immense responsibility of parents to teach their children the right values. As a teacher myself, we have often faced unreasonable parents who have not done/are not doing anything to teach their children what is right and wrong and expect us to do their job. And when the child didnt turn out right, they blame us.

On the other hand,for a moment, I thought,perhaps if i was working,i wouldnt have to bother about these issues,i can pay someone else to teach my child the correct values.It seems easier and emotionally less taxing to teach a classroom of 40 grumpy and moody adolescents than inculcate in my own kid the correct values and helping him to tell right from wrong.

This incident reminded me of the power of peer pressure and the importance to teach children from young to discern good/bad,right/wrong,so that at the appropriate time,we can let go trusting that what we have taught them from young will equip them in future to be able to make wise choices and decisions themselves.