Ain Husniza and dad against ‘walk out of school’ campaign

PETALING JAYA: The teenager behind #MakeSchoolASaferPlace rallying cry Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam and her father say they do not approve for students to walk out of school as a sign of protest.

“For now, there is much better ways to handle the current situation. But we will take the next course of action if the government continues to take this issue lightly, ” the 17-year-old Ain tweeted on Sunday (May 2).

Her father Saiful Nizam Abdul Wahab said although he is thankful for the support from all parties to raise awareness on sexual harassment, he is concerned that the calls to stage the Nationwide School Walkout Day (NSWD) will court more negativity or even indirectly encourage students to rebel.

"Students go to school to get high quality education and must fill their school time with such things instead of being involved in protests activities and so on.

"In fact, it is unfair to ask students to participate in such action at this stage," he said in a Facebook post on Sunday.

He was commenting on the calls made by the Nationwide School Walkout Day (NSWD) Alliance which had suggested students and teachers to walk out of classrooms next week to protest alleged sexual harassment in schools.

Ain Husniza made headlines after exposing a teacher for allegedly trivialising rape during a class discussion.

After her revelation went viral on social media went viral, she lodged a police report after getting rape threats from a classmate who accused her of tarnishing their school’s image. He has since apologised.

"Although I agree with all the proposals from the efforts made by NSWD, I don't think it should be through protests and so on," he added.

He also hoped that other parties would not insult the school, as there were some students and teachers who were supportive of his daughter.

"It is amazing how netizens manage to find out the name of the school.

"Ain and I will do our best not to involve the good name of the school in any matters," he said.

"Please, we do not want to spread hate but we only want change.

"If you keep criticising and insulting, how different are you with them? That is my opinion," he added.

He also apologised for not having the same views with NSWD.

"I am open to accepting any views so we can together make changes to provide good quality education for our children.

"Please continue to raise awareness in this matter. Rape jokes are not okay! Stop normalising rape culture in our society. Respect others no matter who. Give them a chance to change," he said.