Teachers: Child discipline difficult when parents interfere

PETALING JAYA: Teachers are complaining about parents who interfere every time their child is being disciplined. It is making it tougher to control rowdy kids.

A teacher, who wanted to be known as Paramjit, called parental interference a “huge source of frustration” for them.

“Parents nowadays pamper their children too much and will believe anything their child says. To them, their child is always right,” he said.

The disciplinary teacher from Perak recounted the time a student was caught smoking in the toilet by a prefect.

By the time Paramjit said he arrived in the toilet, the student had flushed the cigarette down the toilet.

“However, we could still smell cigarette smoke on the boy. When we called the father, the father kept saying that since we didn’t see the boy smoking, he didn’t do it.

“The father insisted that he could have gotten it (the stench) from somewhere else,” he said.

Paramjit said parents would often tell teachers that they were too busy to discuss their child’s disciplinary problems even after warning letters had been sent.

“When we are forced to cane or suspend the student (according to the standard operating procedures), they get angry at us,” he said.

“Our hands are tied and most teachers don’t want to take the responsibility to discipline any- more,” he lamented.

A senior teacher from Kota Baru said he noticed urban parents were more likely to argue compared to those in rural areas.

“When I taught in a school in the outskirts they (parents) mostly allowed the teachers to carry out the punishment,” said Khairul.

However, at his current school in town, he said he had seen parents storming into the teachers’ room to confront them.

Anita, who teaches in a secondary school in Kuala Lumpur, said she felt 90% of parents would support their child instead of the school.

“But sometimes, they listen when we show proof and photographs of their child doing wrong,” she said.

Secondary school teacher Tee said it was very frustrating that teachers could not discipline students the way they used to.

“The problem is students know this and they take advantage of the system. They are fully aware of the limitations a teacher has in taking action against them,” he added.