WHILE it may be useful for female teachers to have a formalised dress code, many parents and teachers feel that when it comes to an act of indecency by students, there is no one way of looking at it.

Two 14-year-old students at a boys' school were caught taking upskirt pictures of their teacher last month.

Primary school teacher Jeanie Lee, in her late 20s, felt that the blame should not be put on one party alone.

She said: "If the upskirt photo incident happened to me, I will talk to the student first. It is important to understand why the student did it as I believe that people are inherently good. There may be a reason why he has targeted a particular teacher. There is a need to find the root of the problem so that the student doesn't do it again."

However, some readers who wrote in to my paper after reading about the incident felt that having a recommended dress code would lessen the students' blame.

Copywriter Sophia Ang, 31, said: "By calling for a dress code for female teachers, we are sending the wrong message to male students: That it is the female teacher's fault for dressing inappropriately and causing the students to misbehave.

"These boys will grow up and enter the workforce eventually, and they will inevitably encounter women who may not dress 'appropriately'."

"When that happens, does it mean that the women are 'asking for it'?"

Engineering student Terence Teng, 24, feels that parents are also responsible for their children's moral education.

He said: "Who got those camera phones for the students? The answer is obviously the parents. Did they guide their children in the morally correct usage of the phones? I doubt so."

He added: "People should not push all the blame to the teachers just because they are educators. Parents play a part
too."

When it comes to meting out punishment,Ms Tan Ching Yee, 27, a former teacher who taught for 31/2 years at a girls' school, said: "The students ought to be punished. But the extent of it depends on his history, such as whether there is any past misbehaviour.

"If it's just a prank, the matter can be resolved internally, with disciplinary action taken."

However, she cautioned: "If the student goes too far, then more serious action needs to be taken, but in consultation with the parents, of course."