By The Nation
Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat has come out against a 10pm curfew on youths under 18 and corporal punishment.
Responding to a Suan Dusit Poll that showed Thais favour use of the cane for unruly students, Chinnaworn said he personally disapproved of corporal punishment even though students in recent years had had problems with premature sex and teen pregnancy, skipping school, low economic merit, and drug problems.
"I believe there are other options that teachers could resort to when disciplining students. Schools can get parents to closely take care of their children," he said.
The minister also had reservations over the proposed curfew on youths under 18, saying police should tackle problems on a casebycase basis. "If any student starts a brawl, use drugs, police can summon them and their parents to come to some agreement,'' he said.
Democrat Party spokesman Dr Buranat Samutrak said the party believed police should deal with the root cause of problems by cracking down on game shops, snooker shops, and any venues that encourage vice. Police should not stress punishing those violate a curfew.
"Since they are still underage, they have to be sent back home,'' he said.
More than half of people who took part in the Suan Dusit Poll supported a police proposal to impose 10pm curfew on youths under 18 to reduce crime, according to results released on Saturday.
Of 1,549 respondents surveyed, 66 per cent agreed with the curfew idea, as they believed it could help cut crime and parents would have more chance to spend time with their children. Some 34 per cent disapproved of the proposal, reasoning that such a move would not stop the root cause of problems. Some 63 per cent believed a curfew would help prevent crime as most crime involving youths occurs at night. Just over a third of people (37 per cent) believed a curfew would not solve problems if parents did not take care of their children. About two thirds (68 per cent) said parents should get their children to abide by a curfew as it would help to protect them, while a quarter (26 per cent) said the move would violate children's rights.
-- The Nation 2011-01-17
No comments:
Post a Comment