Sunday, November 30, 2008

Growing up in 'tribes'

It's a jungle out there

A CHILL went down my spine when I viewed the Anglo-Chinese Junior College ragging video.

Was this the culmination of a long tradition of 'us' against 'them' in schools?

While no former schoolmate has ever laid a finger on me, I was not spared the emotional roller coaster of group inclusion and exclusion at Raffles Junior College (RJC). I put my bitter- sweet experience down to the fact that I was not from its affiliated school, Raffles Institution (RI).

Most of my close friends had chosen other junior colleges, and I knew no one at RJC. Most former RI boys kept to themselves, leaving the non-RI students to their own devices.

Perhaps the former RI students were trying collectively to hold on to their secondary school bonds. But for an angst-ridden teen, I wondered whether I was being judged because of my nerdy awkwardness, or because of where I came from.

It drove home to me this harsh reality: Life is a jungle of tribes.

Eisen Teo, 24, is an honours student in history at the National University of Singapore (NUS)


Young rebel in a uniform

UNIFORMS and badges are more than mere items of apparel; they are our tickets into a world where we are adults in our own right, away from our parents.

And even though a herd mentality arises when everyone dons the same colours, it is an individual's choice whether he uses this freedom responsibly, or exploits it.

When I was 11, I took a book at a school book sale without paying for it (I returned it the next day). Two years later, I started sneaking off for lunches with schoolmates under the guise of 'remedial classes'.

It was part of my exclusive experience of growing up. I felt the invincibility of youth, my uniform and badge catalysing the youthful rebellion innate in all of us.

Lynette Lim, 19, is a second-year law student at NUS


Normal for people to form cliques

DURING my formative years at Dunman High School, my peers and I would begin banding together in cliques based on class or co-curricular activities (CCAs).

Mainstream students did not mix often with students from the Gifted Education Programme - from which I came - and neither did members of different CCAs. Each student stayed within his or her clique.

But such behaviour is not just restricted to school; it is a fundamental part of the human socialisation process.

Humans of all cultures have always banded together in groups. Religions, nuclear families, and even the modern

nation-state stand as examples of social structures that have arisen because of the 'herd mentality'.

Sometimes, these groups may adopt an 'us' versus 'them' world view, leading to disagreements and even violence.

If cliques in schools coexist peacefully, then well and good. However, if tensions or violence arise, these students are merely following the examples adults have set.

Jonathan Kwok, 24, is an honours student in economics at NUS


Online criticism a form of 'ragging'

STUDENTS form rival cliques for a sense of purpose and belonging. But in no way does that frequently descend into violence or perversity, as did the recent videotaped ragging incident at my school.

Still, members of the public, especially those in the blogosphere, pounced on the isolated episode with relish.

I do not approve of the prank, which went overboard, but many of the online comments from 'concerned citizens' were not constructive.

Instead, they were vulgar, with several comparing the incident to 'gang rape' and insinuating that the girl, and Anglo- Chinese Junior College students in general, 'enjoy being abused'.

Are such insults not a form of the very thing they condemn - 'ragging' - albeit in anonymity?

Chong Joe En, 17, is a humanities student at Anglo-Chinese Junior College

 

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