Children see, children follow

I REFER to the sad and tragic news of Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain and T Nhaveen’s untimely and cruel death. It was the news that shocked the nation, on the back of ever-increasing incidents of bullying that led to rape and/or murder. What is worse, many of these incidents were recorded and replayed online, shared via social media so that the victims were forced to relieve their humiliation repeatedly.

Against this tide, there have been numerous letters to the Editor in newspapers, outpouring of grief and anguish towards the victims’ families and friends, and public backlash demanding justice for the victims. There have been calls for proper parenting skills, for a retraining of public attitude towards “bullying”, which many in the past have dismissed as a necessary rite of passage, and a need to instil compassion and kindness in children today, as discussed by Tan Yi Liang in “Teach Kids Compassion and Kindness” (The Star Online, June 22). I agree wholeheartedly with Tan’s views.