Recently, a video of a woman violently confronting a security officer who turned back her daughter at the gate of Queen’s College, Lagos went viral. In the said video, the mother of the student was seen vehemently supporting the daughter’s indecent dressing that went against the dress code of the institution.
A closer view of the video shows that the student in question had fake eyelashes, something that is not permitted by the school authorities. Yet, the mother could be seen shouting and abusing the security guards to the chagrin of onlookers and other school officials.
It is my view that two wrongs cannot make a right. If it is true, as being reported, that the girl is one of the school’s smartest students, who had represented the school in different functions and competitions, then, she ought to have known better how to behave in public knowing full well that she was the school’s ambassador. And for the mother of the school’s ambassador to put up such a public display was completely uncalled for. Such a misplaced aggression by the girl’s mother towards the security officer, who was carrying out the school’s rules and regulations, is totally unacceptable.
That the incident elicited mixed reactions from the public is to be expected. While those who are against the decision of the school to send the student away argue that summary expulsion of the girl was more like throwing the baby with the bath water, those supporting the school’s decision maintain that the action would serve as a deterrent to other students. They argue that not taking such a strict decision would send a wrong signal to the public, and portray the school in bad light.
In all intents and purposes, the action of the student’s mother is condemnable. It did not any way portray her well. Mothers ought to know when their children have crossed the line. She ought to have scolded her daughter for her indecent dressing rather than put up the ugly spectacle she exhibited in public.
Nevertheless, the outright expulsion of the student by the school authorities leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Having established that the student went against the school’s rules and regulations, the standard procedure should have been suspension for a term laced with community service of about 100 hours on the school premises.
This would rather make her more remorseful than the big stick that leaves her without another opportunity to atone for her bad behaviour. As she goes about the community service in front of other schoolmates, it would have more meaning other than an outright expulsion. There will be no lessons to learn from her inappropriate behaviour if the gate of the school is permanently shut against her.
Etinosa Tessy Aghariaha,
Babcock University, Ilishan, Ogun State:
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