I REFER to the two articles on student terror (The New Paper, 17 Apr).

What perplexes me is that the response from the two schools is little more than that the students have been 'counselled'.

This is unacceptable to me.

It is clear that both cases involved wanton and blatant acts of violence by these students. They deserve punishment and, if necessary, prosecution by the police.

We should not condone such acts.

In the first incident, the group which attacked the student counsellor acted in a thuggish manner.

What made it worse was that even the intervention of the school's discipline master did not stop them.

This showed their total disregard for authority. It appeared that they were not afraid of repercussions.

Related link: » They beat up student councillor » Bus driver punched by student

In the second incident, the students from Changkat Changi Secondary School, one of whom punched the bus driver, behaved in a cowardly manner because they ran away knowing that he could not chase them further. They even had the nerve to taunt him to give chase.

Again, it appeared that they were not afraid of being caught, as they could be identified from the uniform.

I feel that this could be attributed to a softening of how society handles such behaviour.

We have become so used to counselling, which has not worked.

The old adage, 'spare the rod and spoil the child', has come true.

The students can hardly claim they were provoked. I would not consider asking someone to own up or to pick up and dispose of a cup properly as acts of provocation.

If you want further examples of such behaviour, just look at how youngsters behave when they are out at shopping malls and other public places.

They are loutish and rowdy when they are in big groups and have a total disregard for others. Often an accidental bump or even a glance in their direction can spark a fight.

I believe the authorities need to do more than counselling in dealing with them.

We are proud to say that we have a low crime rate.

But that does not mean we are a society of law abiding citizens, as incidents like these show.

I can't imagine what such students are going to be when they grow up.

And how sad will it be for Singapore if we have to rely on them to defend our beloved country.

FROM READER GERARD I STEWART

This article was first published in The New Paper.