LAST Saturday, at about 5.30pm, while several friends and I were playing in an open football field near Queenstown Primary School, we were harassed by some boys from Yuan Ching Secondary School.

We were heavily outnumbered, and that emboldened these unruly students to take advantage of us. They started to erect goal posts behind ours in the field and started intruding into our playing area. When my friend asked them to leave and apologise for their errant behaviour, one of them hurled expletives at him.

This type of bullying is unacceptable. What emboldened the student to hurl expletives at others when he is at fault?

I hope the culprits can be identified and disciplined. If a school is not able to control its students and discipline them for bad conduct, it has lost its authority to be a provider of education.

Tan Hong Boon

This article was first published in The Straits Times.