What we want to share with readers is a true story that happened only yesterday, 15th April 2013. To protect the identity of those involved, we choose not to mention name and place in this posting. There are lessons to be learnt here.
Today, 16th April 2013, a headmistress of a School A received a phone call from a headmaster of School B that a standard 5 (age 11) pupil (the Boy) of School A slept at School B the night before.
On 15th April 2013, the Boy was asked by his grandmother to go to the nearby shop. When the Boy returned from the shop, he found that the grandmother was not at home. As he had no key to the house, he left the stuff he bought outside the house and wentto his friend's house. Apparently a relative came to the house while the Boy went to the shop and took the grandmother with him (the relative). When the grandmother returned home at about 5.00pm, the Boy was not at home. Later the Boy went back and called for his grandmother but there was no response (apparently the grandmother was at home at that time).
The Boy was then seen wandered around School B by the security guard and the security guard asked the Boy to get into the School B compound and gave him dinner. The Boy was then asked to sleep at the gurad post, School B.
Today, 16th April 2013, a teacher from School B gave the Boy breakfast before the headmaster contacted the headmistress of School A. A police report was then lodged by the headmaster. Teachers from School A went to fetch the Boy and sent him back to his grandmother's house.
Apparently, the Boy stays with the grandmother in a state southern part of peninsular, only two of them while his parents live in Kuala Lumpur. According to the grandmother, the Boy hardly stays at home and that irritates her. However, it was not confirmed if the grandmother's act to follow the relative and not to answer to the Boy's call thereafter were seen as a "punishment" to the Boy for hardly stays at home. According to the Boy, he normally stays at home and hardly goes out.
Thereafter, the Boy's aunty (who is said to be a teacher in Kuala Lumpur) contacted School A and claimed that the Boy's parents are irresponsible and sought help from the school. When teacher from School A asked for his parents' contact number, he has no idea how to contact them, as according to the grandmother, the father has changed his contact number. The Boy's parents return to visit him once a month.
What could have gone wrong in this case is that the Boy was exposed to danger as he might have been kidnapped by child predators while wandering without knowing where to go. Luckily we have a good samaritan (the security guard) who provided food and shelter for the Boy.
The Boy is a victim as a result of the action of his parents who sent him to stay with the grandmother and that of his grandmother who left the house after asking the boy to go to the shop.
There are lessons we can learn from this episode. Even if the Boy likes to go out and hardly stays at home, that was not the way to teach him a lesson so that he will stay more at home. Do what they can to deal with the matter but the last thing they should do is to expose the Boy to such danger.
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