Might-is-right mentality hard to dislodge

Might-is-right mentality hard to dislodge

Narudee Jodsanthia, 17, suffered severe facial and neurological damage after she was hit by a mug thrown by a physical education teacher. (File photos)
Narudee Jodsanthia, 17, suffered severe facial and neurological damage after she was hit by a mug thrown by a physical education teacher. (File photos)

The mug throwing incident at a Korat school was just a small example of the authoritarian attitude and might-is-right mentality which plague our schools and society at large.

Spare the rod, spoil the child, as the old saying goes. But had the teacher at Chokchai Samakkee School in Nakhon Ratchasima kept his temper, he could have avoided the calamity which has befallen himself and his teenage student who now has a facial deformity after a ceramic cup he allegedly threw at her hit her in the face.

Paithoon Klaengkrathok, the 58-year-old physical education teacher in Chok Chai district, has been transferred from the school and is being probed by a disciplinary panel over accusations he threw a coffee mug at Naruedee Jodsanthia, an upper secondary school student, on Aug 8, for disobeying him.

The 17-year-old student said the teacher made students sit in rows outdoors while waiting for class, but the ground was too hot to sit on, and students were talking loudly. The teacher became furious and allegedly threw the cup which hit her on the left eyebrow.

Nopporn Wong-Anan is deputy editor, Bangkok Post.

Another incident of teacher aggression was reported last month in the northeastern province of Surin. Netizens have slammed a science teacher from Baan Lam Haad School who forced a sixth-grader to make a public apology over a food allergy claim.

In a video clip that has gone viral, the science teacher makes the student kneel at her feet and apologise in front of hundreds of other students during morning assembly. The teacher said the girl's "lie" had damaged the school's reputation.

Such incidents reflect a superiority complex among power-holders in Thailand no matter what form of government, military or civilian rule, the country has or how advanced the economy has become. From teachers to civil servants, law enforcers and other people in uniform, many of these "authorities" believe they can exercise excessive power because they are "higher" than students and other ordinary citizens.

From my school days to my children's generation, the might-is-right mentality has barely diminished. The idea we can resolve problems through brute force rather than following law and order remains as popular as ever.

Thirty-five years ago, my entrance examination for a renowned public secondary school had to be postponed because a group of disgruntled colonels and generals launched a coup to topple the government of Gen Prem Tinsulanonda on April 1, 1981.

But the Young Turks and their 42 battalions of soldiers, led by Manoon Roopkachorn, faced a counter-coup attempt led by Arthit Kamlang-ek with the support of soldiers loyal to Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy Class 5.

The power struggle, which stemmed from the disappointment of a general who could not become the country's next army chief because Gen Prem was to keep the post for another year, lasted for three days and ended up with victory for the army-chief-turned-prime minister.

The failed coup leaders fled the country and the unsuccessful bid was dubbed the April Fool's Day Coup and the Mesa (April) Hawaii Coup. My school exam was rescheduled and I was lucky to become one of nearly 500 boys in the Class of 1981 at one of the oldest boys' schools in the country.

As Thailand was under a "semi-democratic regime" or prachathipatai krueng bai, corporal punishment was widely practised and accepted in the school. Teachers had the liberty to curse and cane students as they wished to discipline the class.

I still remember the golden phrase of my Mattayom 1 English teacher who loved to swear at my classmates who failed to answer his questions. It was a rhyming Thai curse that can be translated as "Scumbag, you are as dumb as a loo!" We thought it more hilarious than offensive.

Our Mattayom 2 English teacher was more polite, but rather heavy-handed. He never swore at us when we did something wrong, but instead liked to hit students on the back if they got the answers wrong in their workbook. It hurt, and such physical abuse did not bring us any enlightenment on those answers, but pain and fear as consequences. Students had no Facebook to voice their frustration while the traditional media would not bother to take notice.

Corporal punishment had been practised in schools for generations. It was considered right for teachers to discipline their students any way they liked, no matter how vulgar the language could be.

Three decades later, after several coups and coup attempts and democratically elected civilian governments, corporal punishment remains a popular and convenient means for teachers to discipline their students although the Education Ministry has banned teachers from caning students since 2005.

At my children's school, students' rules set out steps to discipline and penalise misbehaving students. But old habits die hard, students do suffer all forms of abuse and corporal punishment, from foul remarks by teachers to a slap on the hand if they fail to deliver their homework. "I will beat the piss and crap out of you if you can't answer these questions," my 11-year-old son once said, repeating what his social science teacher once told his class.

As the ruling generals are "reforming" the country before they return power to the people in a new Thailand, education is among the most mentioned topics this government has been working on.

School time has been shortened to make room for non-academic learning, vocational education has been promoted to solve the shortage of people in trades, new English teaching techniques as well as an integrated teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) have been emphasised.

Despite all the initiatives on academic excellence, teachers too need training, or perhaps an attitude adjustment session or two. As adults with more maturity and authority, they should learn how to handle students rationally, not brutally. Our gun-toting soldiers should also learn to protect the country via constitutional means, not by tearing charters apart.

Nopporn Wong-Anan

Deputy editor

Nopporn Wong-Anan is deputy editor, Bangkok Post.

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