Chiang Mai: Parents of a 9-year-old boy have filed a complaint against a teacher who allegedly ordered a student to pull their son's ear, leading to injury, bruising, inflammation, and bleeding. The incident has raised concerns about the appropriateness of disciplinary actions taken by educators.
According to Thai News Agency, the parents of Nong Focus, a third-grade student in Chiang Mai Province, expressed their distress after learning that their son's social studies teacher instructed a female classmate to twist his ears as a form of punishment. The assault resulted in cartilage injuries in both ears, as confirmed by medical professionals. Nong Focus recounted that the punishment was inflicted because he had teased a friend. The female student, complying with the teacher's orders, twisted his ears over ten times until he cried in pain. Following this, the teacher allowed Nong Focus to pull the female student's ear, although he did so gently, causing no harm to her. The young boy also demonstrated the manner in which his ears were twisted.
The incident occurred on January 30th, but the parents only discovered the full extent of the situation the following day, prompting them to file a complaint at Hang Dong Police Station in Chiang Mai Province. Upon confronting the teacher, they confirmed that the punishment had been administered, which they considered excessively violent. The parents are seeking accountability and have not yet received any form of compensation. They emphasized their discomfort with such punitive measures and expressed a desire to prevent similar incidents from occurring at the school in the future. In response, the school director has reached out to the parents to negotiate a settlement, with a meeting scheduled for this coming Monday.