IT is a sad accident. Two Primary 2 students fool around with a water bottle. It hits one of them in the eye.

She now faces the possibility of losing her sight in that eye.

The parents of the injured girl, while not blaming anyone, have every right to ask the questions they are asking.

Why were the two students allowed to play the fool in school?

Although teachers were present, was there enough supervision in the school hall when the incident happened?

Did the school treat the girl's injury seriously enough?

Should the school have called for an ambulance instead of waiting for the family to come and pick up the victim?

The school should provide the answers to these questions, if not in public, then at least to them.

But some other questions by the parents bother me.

When a child is in school, does he or she become the full responsibility of the school?

If most parents think so, then I do feel for school teachers and administrators.

Minding, on average, 1,500 children from all walks of life is a daunting responsibility - even if the minders are paid to do the job.

In light of such a heavy burden, teachers and principals also have the right, I feel, to ask some questions.

Whose responsibility is it to bring up the child - to inculcate discipline and a value system that respects the rights of others?

In this case, who should have taught the students to play safely?

Is it the school's or the parents' or should they, at least, take joint responsibility?

Who should have told these children not to throw water bottles around, as someone could get hurt, as has happened in this case?

If parents say that it is the school's responsibility when the child is in its charge, then should the school be given more latitude in instilling discipline among the children?

But often the schools find themselves between a rock and a hard place. If they are lax and things go wrong, parents blame them. If they are tough, parents get upset when their children are disciplined.

A number of principals I know have gone soft on the students. They would rather counsel an offender than punish him, out of concern that parents would storm into the school and demand explanations.

And even when the explanation is justified, some over-protective parents refuse to see their children's faults.

One key element in this latest incident seems to have been lost in all the emotional talk - that the two students must share responsibility for their misbehaviour.

My question to both parents and school: How should we handle the students' role in this accident?