Preschool teacher suspended after “humiliating” 5-year-old boy in class for having long hair

Preschool: A time to actually have fun learning new things and enjoy an enriching childhood before getting ensnared in the unrelenting gears of Singapore’s rigid academic system. 

Eric Cheong, however, learnt the hard way that old-school punishments still exist in preschools, when his young son got shamed in class by a teacher for the offence of sporting long hair. 

According to his now-viral Facebook post, his five-year-old son was subjected to humiliation at the Zoo-phonics School in Serangoon when he got his hair done up like a girl with a hair clip. Apparently, the teacher — known as Ms Theresa — threatened to do so again if he didn’t get his hair cut by the next day. 

“My son later revealed to me after we had left the school compound, that during the extent of time he was been humiliated, he was too scare and traumatised to cry out or even reacting. He feared more punishment and humiliation if he was to be seen as defiant. Only after had Ms Theresa left the class, did he started to weep at his seat,” Cheong said.

The father was livid, of course, noting the boy’s despondent behaviour, the “psychological damage” and the possibility of a “chronic” fear of school. 

“These are behaviors and events I could find no acceptance as an early childhood development teacher,” Cheong wrote. 

Having been shared across social media, The Straits Times now reports that the preschool has since suspended the teacher, pending an investigation. Cheong has also alleged that she’s guilty of other “improper conducts” like spraying water into the mouths of yawning kids, tying her students’ legs up together if they swing them, and even using markers to dot their foreheads should they answer questions wrongly. 

All in all, pretty much old-school punishments that any kid would have gone through in the past. It is 2016 though — one would think that teachers now would be more informed and be inclined to create an encouraging environment for learning, instead of relying on disciplinarian techniques. 

Nonetheless, “Ms Theresa” is said to have gotten support from parents despite the incident. Most of them want her to stay, according to Zoo-phonics School director Vincent Teoh. 

Cheong would beg to differ, of course. “Such teacher should never be allowed in the educational industry, especially pre-school as we strongly believe that at this age it’s important as it nurture a child’s character.”