Two decades ago when I was a really new teacher, I was assigned to take care of a Sec 4 Normal Tech class during their reading period. I was supposed to make sure that they read books.
One day, they took out a laptop and started to watch something on it. In those days there were no smartphones and no PLDs. A laptop stuck out like a sore thumb.
I told them to keep the laptop. A boy told me: “We are not watching porn lah!”
The boy and I got into an exchange of words. I told him that he should improve his English if he wanted to argue with me. Yes, I shouldn’t have said this but at that time I was in my twenties and still young.
“YOU DON’T ACT LIKE A TEACHER LAH!” The lad shouted. “TEACHER BIG FUCK?!
(Looking back at this exchange twenty years later, I realised that his challenge was self-contradictory.)
The boy had crossed the line. I reported him to the DM who summoned him.
The DM’s seat was next to mine (separated by a barrier which blocked visibility) and I heard the boy say, “The teacher shouted at me.”
The DM replied: “The teacher has every right to shout at you.”
Verdict: Suspension and apology letter.
The student sarcastically said to me in Chinese as he handed me the letter, “You must be very happy.”
I replied that I was not happy that he was suspended.
“我在这个学校比你久。” （I have been in this school longer than you.) The boy told me. I should have left it at that but my ego retorted, “I have been in this world longer than you.”
If this had happened today, I would have taken a more diplomatic and measured approach. Anger + Anger = More Anger.
Anyway, I still see the “boy” in my neighbourhood. He is now in his mid-thirtes and is a Food Panda worker. There have been a few times that I was tempted to ask if he remembers our clash.