EDITORIAL – Take the issue to the right authorities

There seems to be no end to talk about the latest incident involving broadcaster Raffy Tulfo and his handling of a complaint brought to him by the grandmother and parents of a Grade 2 pupil who was allegedly humiliated by his teacher.

The actions of Tulfo should not come as a surprise to anybody anymore; people drunk on too much media power usually don’t realize when they have become bullies.

Let’s focus on the actions of the student’s party. Specifically, on the student’s parents and grandmother.

Yes, they had a complaint with a teacher, but the issue should have been taken to the proper authorities, in this case the teacher’s superiors and the school.

But for some reason the parents decided to approach the media. What in the world possessed them to approach a broadcaster to settle their problem with a teacher?

Did they feel the school would not give them the satisfaction they wanted? Was the need to get back at the teacher so great they had to bypass the school and take it to the media?

In the end was the issue even worth bringing up? The parents and the grandmother felt the student was “abused” after he was made to sit outside the classroom for an entire period.

But believe it or not, there was a time not too long ago when the punishment for an infraction in school fits what can actually called child abuse today.

Children were made to kneel on salt, stand in the heat of the sun, had their hands slapped with rulers, or made to “sit on the air” for a length of time.

The generation that experienced this form of punishment actually thinks they are the better for it. There is nothing like a little chastisement to instill discipline in a child after all.

However, calling for a return to those times is already beside the point. The point is this all started when the issue was brought to the wrong person who thought he could make things right, and ended up making a bigger mess of things instead.

An issue as sensitive as the disciplining of a child or child abuse should have been brought to the teacher’s superiors or the relevant authorities who know how to deal with the problem. Not to a broadcaster.