Another Shitty Story

Another Shitty Story = ASS

Piku, a Bollywood film got applauds when the story teller touched a shitty subject like problems of constipation and old age in a witty style. However, when a school boy actually recorded the process of shitting at school, got reprimanded.

It was early morning; the school bus was already at the corner. As Pat put on his socks, wore his Nike sports shoes, tied the lace and hit the pavement to board his bus to school. Monday morning blues turned out to be Monday morning quarterback. The bus accelerated to maintain time, increasing Pat’s tummy growling. Last night’s steak was undergoing peristalsis, embarrassing Pat.

Assembly harangued through, increasing Pat’s discomfort to sit through the whole Monday speech by the Principal. As the assemblage got dismissed, Pat sped through the corridors towards the toilets. Least did Pat realize that his discomfort to shed load will become a hit story that Monday.

Jonathan, an amateur videographer and a peeping tom had seen Pat and sensed some goofiness.  

Pat was finally enjoying himself while taking the morning crap in the school toilet when Jonathan captured the adjacent stall, climbed the toilet seat, put his iPad on roll and recorded Pat’s momentary bliss. Being a digital native and already armed with fresh scoop, Jonathan set Pat’s poop video on social media.  FB, Messenger & WeChat went on e-buzz, the video was a viral by recess.

Pat the super pooper was having his nightmare, he ran towards the staffroom and spotting his class teacher blurted out the motion in action and the videographer whose video had become famous instantly was summoned to the office.

Chairs were pushed, admin department immediately gathered momentum, a diktat was out – to stop the use of iPad with immediate effect inside school premises till further notice. The parent’s of the prankster were summoned; the students who had shared and forwarded the video were reprimanded.

Eleven year olds as we know can be cruel. Their sense of fun can sometimes cross any social boundaries, how do parents and teachers react to such bullying? Moreover when they are digitally equipped? Imagine the other boy who’s the victim here what mental torture and shame he has been forced to?

The fact is doctor’s advice is only called for when some untoward incident has already happened. The writing on the wall was evident the moment the school had given an open permission of use of iPads in school premises without supervision. For a start, it fails to define a “reasonable” length of time, leaving its application open to interpretation and abuse. In this particular case most irritatingly of all, the measures also seem to ride roughshod over personal privacy.

It is indisputable that technology is increasingly dominating our lives; children who are able to write code or use Photoshop will have a significant advantage as adults.

Furthermore, a number of academics have drawn a distinction between harmful and beneficial screen-time.

The fact remains that as a benchmark, the AAP guidelines deserve to be taken seriously. The alternative is to play Russian roulette with your child's wellbeing. Depressingly, however, the vast majority of international schools in Kuala- Lumpur are either unaware of the guidelines and dangers, or they simply disregard them.

Most children in developed countries are consuming double, triple, or even quadruple the accepted healthy level of screen-time. Even the most educational app is unlikely to make a meaningful difference to that.

There's no point in sugaring the pill. If kids aren't encouraged to unplug, they are likely to turn into some rather unhappy adults.