BEHAVE badly again?

You know what to do.

Cindy (we are not using her real name to safeguard her future), 15, is familiar with the drill.

By her own admission, she attended just over 40 days of school two years ago in Sec 1, out of about 190 school days a year.

Last year, her attendance improved - by 20 days.

This means she had about three times a regular student's year-end school holiday.

Her absence was due to long periods of suspension because of her poor conduct.

DISRUPTIVE

The North Vista Secondary School (NVSS) Sec 2 student said she had been suspended for a variety of offences over the years.

These included hurling vulgarities at her teachers, being late for school, not wearing her name tag, wearing a skirt which was too short, and being absent from her lessons and co-curricular activities.

As a result of the classes she missed, Cindy failed her exams and had to repeat Sec 1 last year.

She was promoted to Sec 2 this year, but was asked to leave the Normal (Academic) stream for the Normal (Technical) stream.

She told The New Paper: 'I know it's my fault for breaking the school rules, and it serves me right to be punished.

'But all they do is suspend me over and over again.'

Mr Lim Lai Chuan, principal of NVSS, said the school had no choice but to suspend the student because she had been exceptionally disruptive.

He said: 'The student had the habit of using vulgarities on the people around her and picking fights.

'So we told her that she would have to stay away from school until she learnt how to behave herself.'

Indeed, for hurling vulgarities at her teachers, she could have been expelled.

On 23 Jan, Cindy was told she would be suspended 'indefinitely' until she knew how to conduct herself appropriately.

She was also told to make an appointment to see the school counsellor before she would be allowed to return to school.

She said: 'After a month of being suspended, I called the school every day to ask if I could go back to school.

'But each time I was told the person in charge of my case was not around.'

She claimed her mother, a single parent, also went to the school repeatedly to ask that her daughter be allowed to return to school.

She said: 'But my mother was often away from Singapore for work, so she couldn't help much.'

Mr Lim said Cindy's teachers had met her mother on several occasions to explain why her daughter had been repeatedly suspended.

'She understood why we had to do it,' he said.

Cindy claimed she had also asked to enrol in the school's Step Up programme, which is designed to help disruptive students study.

'But the teacher in-charge of the programme said I was not on the list of students to be enrolled in the programme,' she claimed.

Mr Lim explained that Cindy was not on the programme because her boyfriend was in the same programme.

'We felt she wanted to enrol in the programme for the wrong reasons,' he said.

Cindy was eventually allowed to resume classes on 25 Mar, after several sessions with the school counsellor.

She said: 'My counsellor talks to me like a friend, so I trust her and I want to change.

'She helped me realise my mistakes.'

She said she is now making an effort to obey the school rules.

'When the school suspends me, I only feel defiant and happy that I don't have to go to school,' she said.

'But through counselling, at least I've started to learn.'

LAGGING BEHIND

But Cindy told The New Paper she is now worried because she has fallen behind in her schoolwork.

She said: 'Some of my friends stay back after school to help me, but they can't help me much because they aren't very strong in their schoolwork.

'It's so difficult to catch up.'

Cindy said while she was suspended this year, she decided to work part-time as a salesgirl to pay for tuition to help keep up with her schoolwork.

She said: 'But I ended up not having much time to attend the tuition classes because I was working.

'I wonder whether I would still be in Normal (Academic) if I hadn't been suspended all those times.'

Last month, The New Paper reported that more than 100 students from NVSS, in Sengkang, were sent out of school for haircuts or to buy new school uniforms - and 42 did not return.

Students The New Paper spoke to then claimed that they were not aware they were expected back at the school.

However, vice-principal Yong Kek Shoong said the students were given clear instructions to report back after they had sorted themselves out.

This sparked an outcry among students, who said the school was being too harsh by sending them home.

But Mr Lim said the strict punishments were necessary to instil discipline in recalcitrant students.

EXTREME CASES

Is the school too quick to suspend?

Mr Lim replied that the school would only resort to suspending students for extended periods if they were 'extreme cases' who were disruptive in class, and who had committed severe offences such as being rude to teachers, or fighting in school.

The school also has a guidance programme called Step Up to help students who have trouble focusing in class, or who are disruptive.

The programme emphasises experiential learning, where students participate in non-academic activities such as golf lessons.

Mr Lim said the school seldom resorts to expulsion as a means of dealing with disobedient students.

He said: 'Trying to change them is a difficult task, but we believe that showing them care and concern is key.

'We believe in giving these students another chance.'

He said the school has taken in several students who had been expelled from other secondary schools.

'We monitor these students closely and refer them to the school counsellor. It isn't easy, but we've managed to help some of them change,' he said.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Apr 10, 2008.