SINGAPORE: A Singaporean took to social media to ask others about the worst experiences they had with their teachers.
Recalling her own, she shared that back in Secondary 3, things got out of hand when her teacher intervened when she lost her wallet.
She was frantically looking for her wallet when her teacher saw her and asked her what was wrong, to which she replied, “I misplaced my wallet.”
Her teacher then assured her that he would “settle things” after the last period, giving her a momentary relief.
Little did she know, however, that her teacher would keep everyone after class and declare that “she thought someone had taken her wallet” so there would be a mandatory bag inspection.
This public accusation was both shocking and humiliating for her.
During the inspection, a classmate who had taken her wallet as a prank threw it onto her desk, admitting that it was “all simply a joke.” The teacher then dismissed the rest of the class but asked her to stay behind for a private lecture.
He chastised her for not taking better care of her belongings and causing unnecessary trouble for the entire class and himself. She felt mortified, especially as her classmates gathered outside the classroom to watch the fiasco.
“I finally broke down in tears, for the first time in my entire school life, when he said, “what would your mother think of all this?”
I felt so wrongly accused, unfairly treated. He was just pushing me at this point and I just started crying,” she continued.
“I put my head on the table and didn’t try to defend myself anymore because I was frustrated. He just tapped my back and left, leaving my friends to comfort me instead,” she added.
The incident left a lasting scar. When she later heard that the teacher had migrated to Australia a year after the incident, she felt so happy because she could finally distance herself from him.
“It’s been 10 years since that incident, but I’ve never forgotten a teacher that did me so, so wrong,” she said.
The woman’s post inspired others to share their own stories as well. Comments began to flood in, each recounting various encounters with teachers that left deep emotional pain.
One user recounted an incident during a parent-teacher meeting where her teacher laughed at her and her parents’ faces when she expressed her dream of becoming a teacher. He also advised her to have a “realistic goal that’s attainable.”
Years later, she encountered him again at a National Day Parade, but this time as a teacher. “I was with my students and he was with his. I guess the dream was realistic after all, Mr Lee,” she said.
Another user shared that she had her period in Secondary school and that it leaked through her PE shorts. She then told her PE teacher that she could not participate because of her period.
However, her teacher didn’t believe her and thought she was lying to get out of the class.
“He made me run on the field in blood soaked shorts. It was damn humiliating. This was the mid-90s where teachers were very fierce and had so much power trip. That (abuse) would not fly if it happens today.”
A third user recalled that his E-Math teacher told him that “he will never amount to anything in life and can’t even get into poly in front of the whole class.”
“Jokes on her, I graduated with a decent GPA 4+/5 from a competitive course in one of the big 3 unis. Have a job that pays much higher than a normal fresh graduate’s salary, definitely more than her salary (she was 40 years old back then).”
As more stories were shared, the Singaporean woman felt a sense of camaraderie and support. She realized that she wasn’t alone in her experience and that many others had faced similar, if not worse, situations.
The discussion also sparked conversations about the importance of empathy, understanding, and proper training for educators to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.
Ultimately, the thread turned into a place of healing and reflection, reminding everyone involved of the power teachers hold and their responsibility in shaping young minds and lives.
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