SINGAPORE — A discipline teacher in a secondary school recalled her horror when some students showed her vulgar stickers on WhatsApp that had been made using another teacher’s photographs and circulated within unofficial student WhatsApp chat groups.

Even though she had heard that such stickers could be made using people's photos, she had always thought of them as innocuous.

“I had no idea that these tools can be used to depict people in obscene clothing and making offensive gestures,” the teacher said. She wanted to be known only as Ms Maria. Like other teachers that TODAY spoke to, she did not want to give her real name as she is not authorised to speak to the media.

In this instance, the students behind the stickers were reprimanded and told to carry out community service.

Though such incidents are rare, Ms Maria remarked on how easy it is for students now to use digital technology to bully and ridicule their teachers.

Even without the use of mobile applications, students have been disrespectful in school, just that mobile phones may now be used to capture such encounters.

A St Andrew's Secondary School student was recently caught on video arguing with his teacher and threatening him with violence. In response to media queries, the school said that the student in question had been disciplined.  

When asked how often teachers are confronted by threats. intimidation and other forms of disruptive encounters in classrooms, the Ministry of Education (MOE) told TODAY on Tuesday (Aug 30) that the number of incidents of open defiance and rudeness in schools here have remained low over the years.
 
Like Ms Maria, several teachers approached by TODAY also said that instances of threatening behaviour, bullying and harassment are not frequent, but they have each encountered one or two difficult situations with students where they needed help and intervention from other teachers or the school management.

Others said that discipline is generally on the decline, as students are increasingly getting away with bending or breaking school rules and behaving more disrespectfully towards teachers. 

A teacher in a secondary school who gave her name as just Sally spoke about an incident that involved a colleague of hers.

“The student was angry with the teacher for waking him up while he was sleeping at the teacher's table in an empty classroom. After he woke up, he went to look for the teacher, who was teaching in another class, barged into that class and shouted at the teacher,” she said.

Ms Sally was asked to intervene because she was familiar with the student and she eventually managed to calm him down.

She said that when faced with such situations, teachers should try to avoid falling into the trap of a power struggle.

“Ultimately, it's relationship building that helps (form a bond) between teachers and students.

“However, most schools may not have the time for teachers to get to know the students well. Thankfully, my school focuses a lot on student-teacher relationship building.”

Recalling her own encounter, another teacher who wanted to be identified as just Ms Rachel said that a male student from one of her classes was behaving flirtatiously towards her.

She felt intimidated at first but decided to change her own demeanour. Although she maintains an affable manner with her students, she is now more willing to put on an authoritative voice when needed, so that they do not take advantage of her friendliness.

The boy eventually stopped, though Ms Rachel said that if the situation persisted, she would have sought the help of her colleagues.

“I had initially wanted to be like a friend to my students. But the incident made me decide that I needed to draw my boundaries and maintain some level of distance.”

PARENTS’ SUPPORT NEEDED

A humanities teacher in a junior college who wanted to be known as Ms Susan said that over the years, she has found that students are getting away with more small acts of rule-breaking or defiant behaviour.

She believes that this is because teachers are increasingly turning a blind eye, knowing that it may be pointless to try to discipline the pupils. 
 
This is because teachers are becoming less empowered to correct students, as more parents tend to be defensive and automatically take their children's side when they are given feedback from teachers, she said.
 
“When students fall asleep in class, for example, there are parents who say that it is on the teacher to make classes more interesting.”

“Students have to adjust to the discipline and routine set by the teacher, not the other way round,” she said.

Having been teaching for more than 20 years, Ms Susan finds that today, she is unable to even tell off students who wear physical education attire to the lecture theatre, which goes against the junior college's rules.

“Some students even put their legs on the seats in front of them,” she noted.

She has not experienced being verbally abused face-to-face by pupils, but she takes issue with students who use expletives in her presence. She knows she is a rarity in this regard.

“I cannot tolerate disrespect. Yet there are some teachers who simply have to act as if they did not hear the vulgarity,” she added.

This is because teachers are increasingly finding that if they do try to discipline the pupils, the parents may in turn confront them.

"Parents can be confrontational to the teachers or they will be scrutinising the teachers. Over time, the child knows very well that he or she has the support of the parents," Ms Susan said.

"The student complains every time any small mistake is made by the teacher (and sometimes) what the teacher does in the classroom will be taken out of context."

Ms Susan said that she used to feel angry about students behaving in defiant ways and the lack of parental support for discipline, but over time, this has turned into apathy.
 
“I act according to the discipline guidelines given by the Ministry of Education when needed, but I would rather devote my efforts to students who are interested to learn."

Another teacher who wanted to be identified only as Mr Nash, teaches physical education to secondary school students. He thinks of himself as an alternative parent to his students. 

"When I discipline my students, I tell them that this is how I would correct my own children," he said.

However, from attending parent-teacher meetings over the years, he has come to see that not all parents see a similar need to instil discipline at home.  

He said that the students in his school who come from wealthier backgrounds especially seem to enjoy a lot of leniency at home, which translates to how they behave in school.

“From several parent-teacher meetings, I can visibly see how some parents indulge their children and allow bad behaviour.”

RUDENESS NOT CONDONED, MOE SAYS

In its reply to TODAY on this matter, MOE stated despite preventive measures, some students may display inappropriate behaviours from time to time.

Even though cases of open defiance have been low, rudeness to teachers is not condoned. It is considered student misbehaviour and firmly dealt with according to the schools’ disciplinary guidelines.

“When a student’s misbehaviour calls for disciplinary consequences, schools apply firm corrective actions such as detention, suspension and corrective community service, considered in combination or separately, depending on the circumstances of each case.

“For serious offences, as a last resort, caning may be carried out for boys.

“A police report will be made for offences which are listed under Section 424 of the Criminal Procedure Code, with appropriate support given to ensure the well-being of the student under police investigation,” it added.

Mr Mike Thiruman, general secretary of the Singapore Teacher’s Union, told TODAY that discipline issues do occur in schools here from time to time, although most cases are not as extreme as the incident at St Andrew’s Secondary School. 

“It is critical that overly defiant students must be managed, with the support of the school leadership," he said. "The teachers alone cannot do it. I think there must be firm actions taken so that the teachers themselves also feel safe.”

He added that the union offers counselling to teachers who need it.

He also said that for severe incidents of bullying, harassment or threats, the consequences must be clearly articulated to the students involved and action must be taken.

“This is so that teachers feel that their physical and emotional well-being is looked after at the school level,” Mr Thiruman said. 

On this, MOE said: “When teachers experience incidents of open defiance, they will be supported by their school leaders and the student management team, who will assist to investigate the incident, engage parents of the student and mete out consequences where appropriate.”

The ministry also said that it provides schools with principles and guidelines, with which they formulate their school-based discipline policies and approaches, based on their student profile.

As part of the teacher preparation courses at the National Institute of Education, teachers are trained in classroom management, which includes equipping teachers to manage students who demonstrate disruptive behaviour.

In addition, teachers who in service receive professional development support in enhancing teacher-student relationships and counselling skills to nurture a positive classroom culture.

“Issues relating to discipline are often multi-faceted, and effective collaboration involving schools, parents, and the community is essential to instil and reinforce the right values and behaviour in our students,” MOE added.