Boot camp in far South inappropriate for hooligan students
The idea to send hooligan students to a boot camp in the three southernmost provinces seems emotionally motivated and outlandish. It is also an insult to the locals down there.
This very controversial idea to deal with hoodlum vocational college students emerged at a meeting Monday of educators chaired by Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat .
He suggested the setting up of a boot camp in the strife-torn far South to accommodate the hooligans, who would have to spend some time doing civic work and learning the realities of life down there as part of the rehabilitation programme to turn them into law-abiding citizens.
The Office of Basic Education has been told to draw up a list of appropriate civic activities.
The Ministry of Education has also drawn up a set of measures to deal with the student violence problem, which was to be submitted to the cabinet today for consideration. Among the proposals: installation of more surveillance cameras at 10,000 spots in Bangkok regarded as high-risk areas for student violence; creation of peer group and parent group networks at each school to help students with a record of violence; and punitive measures for schools with repeated incidents of student violence.
Of all the proposed measures, the boot camp idea stood out and generated a lot of mixed opinions.
Voicing his opinion at Matichon Online, a reader from the deep South asked bitterly why Bangkok's “social garbage” should be sent to the region, which is already plagued with more than enough violence.
This article is older than 60 days, which we reserve for our premium members only.You can subscribe to our premium member subscription, here.
