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Kevin is a young boy who never knew his limits. You may
say he's just a boy after all. The problem was that he
was already attending a secondary school. He was a Sec 2
boy in the Normal Academic stream, in a neighborhood
school. A school has its rules and regulations and they
were meant to be followed. Kevin seemed to be under the
impression that he could do whatever he wanted. Perhaps
it was because he had the backing of some `powerful
friends' outside school who treated him well. One
teacher could see what was coming for Kevin and tried to
warn him in a gentle way of what was impending.
Kevin-would not listen. He thought that teachers could
be a real pain in the neck. They were paid to teach and
not to preach at them, students. Kevin had excuses for
everything. If he was late, it was because the SBS bus
was slow. When he could not hand up his homework it was
because he had misplaced it. He would swear that he had
already done it. Among his classmates, Kevin took pride
that he could liven up a lesson by playing the fool. His
nonsensical answers and interruptions during the lesson
could put the teacher on the spot. The involuntary
giggles he heard fooled him into thinking that he was
well-appreciated.
Each time the form teacher called for one of the
parents to come to the school, his sister would turn up
instead. It did help in a way since she was a former
student of the school. The form teacher did find out
more about his family background. He was the only son in
the family and he was always regarded as a 'pow peh'
(precious one). His parents gave him whatever he wanted
but did not spend enough time with him and soon lost
control of him. He spent more time with his friends than
his family. His `good friends' who were older than him
taught him many things.
You could say that he valued his education by his
friends more than the secondary school education from
the government teachers. It was his 'friends' who
introduced him to the real world. They brought him to
the arcades, the billiard rooms and the Cantopubs. In
fact, they treated him like an adult. It was reflected
in the language they used; it was always punctuated with
a certain four-letter word.
Thus school became a place to be tolerated since
everyone his age was attending it. Besides, his other
group of friends were found in school. Some of them were
also of his kind. There were others who looked up to
him. They seemed to admire his guts. Then there were
those whom he could bully or make fun of.
The day of reckoning
soon came. All the teachers had been complaining about
his poor attitude. The soft approaches used in handing
recalcitrant students had all been used to no effect.
Kevin was then caned by the discipline master for
cheating. Finally, Kevin came face to face with the
school principal.
"Can you explain your behavior, Kevin?' the principal
asked. Kevin kept quiet and tried to look brave. He knew
it was best to keep quiet in front of those who held
real authority. The session ended with a final warning
for Kevin. It was either `shape up or ship out.'
Kevin could not change. He was too set in his wayward
ways. Like a frog that stayed in the warm comfortable
water without realizing that there was a slow fire
beneath, he got cooked like the poor frog.
Kevin was expelled from school. |
