Teachers slammed for mocking special needs student online
Four teachers who mocked a student with special needs online have been slammed for their comments, with some calling their actions "nasty" and "dispassionate".
One of them, who is employed as an allied educator (AED), had made fun of his Primary 5 male student with special needs in a Facebook posting dated 1 July.
It is understood that the male teacher and his colleagues teach at a mainstream boys' primary school. The role of an AED is to provide teaching and learning support in schools.
Their comments were brought to light after a parent whose son had been a classmate of the student discovered the posting earlier this month.
Describing herself as Mrs Lim, she told The New Paper that she came across the comments made by the teachers when she was looking through her son's Facebook account.
Her son, who is also in Primary 5, is friends on Facebook with some of his teachers. The teacher who owned the account had initially posted a harmless message, saying, "I survived the first week of work."
This was in reference to the start of the school's third term after the month-long June holidays. However, what followed was the message by the AED teacher who is alleged to have started mocking the student.
"I am so looking forward to the next few months. Anyone got contact for santizers?" he said.
The teacher then replied to his comment, saying that he will be needing "a load of that plus boxes of tissues" as well as "wet wipes" and a "mucus collector".
Another teacher then jumped in to comment, "You need extra large economy bottle? Can get from JB!"
It is believed that the three teachers who made the comments are also form teachers of various levels in the primary school. The AED's Facebook profile showed that he has been in that profession since September 2009.
Mrs Lim said she was shocked that the comments were made publicly, adding that her son was classmates with the special needs student for two years.
"It was obvious who the teachers were talking about. If my son or his friends had come across the comments, they too would have known that their own teachers were making fun of a student."
The housewife who is in her 30s added that her son told her the student drools occasionally and mucus flows from his nose because of his condition. He also has difficulty sitting still, so the AED has to take him out of class at times.
"Teachers are supposed to be inculcating values in our children, and here they are showing themselves to be doing the exact opposite," she added.
Others also joined in to criticise the teachers involved for their comments.
Senior counselor Harry Low said, "What these teachers did was inappropriate, nasty and dispassionate."
Principal of South View Primary School Jenny Yeo noted that teachers need to be careful when using social media, especially since students look to them as role models.
When contacted, the boy's father, who was trained as a psychologist and is actively involved in the school as a parent volunteer, said that he was "shocked" and "upset" by the incident.
He was only informed of the incident only on Thursday, when he received a call from the school. The father was also thankful to Mrs Lim for highlighting the incident.
The school principal told TNP that she was alerted to the incident on Thursday as well, and that the teachers involved have been "counselled".
She added that the school takes a serious view of this incident and will continue to emphasise to its staff the need to conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times.
