Dad Sues Principal for Not Returning Confiscated Phone
This post first appeared on the Facebook Page of Ong Ying Ping ESQ on June 8, 2017. You can view the post here.
The news article “Parent sues school for refusing to return confiscated phone for three months” first appeared on The Straits Times on June 6, 2017. The article can be accessed through this link. The article was subsequently republished by The New Paper on June 7, 2017 under the title “Dad sues principal for not returning confiscated phone”, which can be accessed here.
Co-parenting between parents and the school is challenging even when the children are doing fine. When they break the rules, infighting between the adults minding the children is unfortunate.
Taking it all the way to court? Words fail me…
The irony is that I have been spreading the message of community participation in the legal process and yet oppose this kind of “involvement”. I can only say that there is an exception to most rules, just as there are counter-principles to almost every principle.
It appears from the BBC article here that schools across different countries have faced legal proceedings in enforcing the “no-handphone-during-lessons” rule. I believe the remedy lies in the process of liaising first with the school, then the Ministry of Education. Ultimately, if the parents are not satisfied, it is much better to take up a class action by like-minded parents who were all notified about the rule. My point is that the process (means) is almost every bit as important as the outcome (ends). As the saying goes, the ends do not justify the means.