Little 'Rakers Walked Home From School Today

[Berkshire]

Quite predictable. A simple little thread about how a child walks home from school degenerates into character assassination of the OP due to poor parenting and lack of concern over a child's education as compared to family needs. Do you people actually read the drivel you write and more importantly, believe half of it -or- is this all yet another wind up?

The OP clearly brought it on himself. And based on his own comments, I wonder why he would send his child to a school that he says is run by "idiots." Who would do that to their own child?

[polapatl]

We've already arranged and paid for a new (better) school before this anyway, we weren't happy with a few things.

Giving tea and coffee to the kids, for example. We only found out after investigation through wondering why little 'Rakers was still wide awake at 1AM some nights.

Ok I obviously hadn't read enough of the posts before chiming in. I've deleted my comments/questions. Sorry.

Edited September 29, 2011 by polapatl

[smokie36]

Its an appalling way to run a school imo. They clearly have no concept of looking after the safety of the children in their care or of the trust being afforded them by the parents.

Disgraceful anywhere in the world.

[F1fanatic]

At the end of the day, this is Thailand. I've seen kids of around 9 to 10 driving scooters to school! A couple of years older and they've got friends on the back....

The Thai parents presumably have no problems with their children walking home, otherwise if enough parents complained perhaps they'd change. Perhaps child abduction is rarer here than in the West? It would make sense as paedophiles would find it easier to find the adolescents they love 'more available' than in the West?

I don't intend to bring the discussion down, but this is why a Western parent would not want their young child walking home alone.

[Kananga]

At the end of the day, this is Thailand. I've seen kids of around 9 to 10 driving scooters to school! A couple of years older and they've got friends on the back....

The Thai parents presumably have no problems with their children walking home, otherwise if enough parents complained perhaps they'd change. Perhaps child abduction is rarer here than in the West? It would make sense as paedophiles would find it easier to find the adolescents they love 'more available' than in the West?

I don't intend to bring the discussion down, but this is why a Western parent would not want their young child walking home alone.

My niece used to go to school in Cha Am. One day during lunch she went to the toilet and when she came back the friends she was eating lunch with had disappeared. Every single one of them had been abducted. Other children reported seeing a van pull up outside, two men ran in, grabbed 4 kids and they were gone. My family left the area a couple of months afterwards and the children had still not been found by then.

Thailand is a country where misplaced bravado and nonchalant attitudes towards children's safety will end up coming back to bite you sooner or later. Yes the OP made a bad decision regarding his school choice, but at least he had admitted that and has taken immediate steps to better the situation. There is no rule book for bringing up kids but there is also no excuse for not learning from your mistakes and doing the very best for your kids safety and wellbeing.

[F1fanatic]

At the end of the day, this is Thailand. I've seen kids of around 9 to 10 driving scooters to school! A couple of years older and they've got friends on the back....

The Thai parents presumably have no problems with their children walking home, otherwise if enough parents complained perhaps they'd change. Perhaps child abduction is rarer here than in the West? It would make sense as paedophiles would find it easier to find the adolescents they love 'more available' than in the West?

I don't intend to bring the discussion down, but this is why a Western parent would not want their young child walking home alone.

My niece used to go to school in Cha Am. One day during lunch she went to the toilet and when she came back the friends she was eating lunch with had disappeared. Every single one of them had been abducted. Other children reported seeing a van pull up outside, two men ran in, grabbed 4 kids and they were gone. My family left the area a couple of months afterwards and the children had still not been found by then.

Thailand is a country where misplaced bravado and nonchalant attitudes towards children's safety will end up coming back to bite you sooner or later. Yes the OP made a bad decision regarding his school choice, but at least he had admitted that and has taken immediate steps to better the situation. There is no rule book for bringing up kids but there is also no excuse for not learning from your mistakes and doing the very best for your kids safety and wellbeing.

That is awful! When did it happen?

[Kananga]

At the end of the day, this is Thailand. I've seen kids of around 9 to 10 driving scooters to school! A couple of years older and they've got friends on the back....

The Thai parents presumably have no problems with their children walking home, otherwise if enough parents complained perhaps they'd change. Perhaps child abduction is rarer here than in the West? It would make sense as paedophiles would find it easier to find the adolescents they love 'more available' than in the West?

I don't intend to bring the discussion down, but this is why a Western parent would not want their young child walking home alone.

My niece used to go to school in Cha Am. One day during lunch she went to the toilet and when she came back the friends she was eating lunch with had disappeared. Every single one of them had been abducted. Other children reported seeing a van pull up outside, two men ran in, grabbed 4 kids and they were gone. My family left the area a couple of months afterwards and the children had still not been found by then.

Thailand is a country where misplaced bravado and nonchalant attitudes towards children's safety will end up coming back to bite you sooner or later. Yes the OP made a bad decision regarding his school choice, but at least he had admitted that and has taken immediate steps to better the situation. There is no rule book for bringing up kids but there is also no excuse for not learning from your mistakes and doing the very best for your kids safety and wellbeing.

That is awful! When did it happen?

4 years ago. It was bad, and we can only thank our lucky stars that she went to the toilet when she did. But it opened our eyes to the complete lack of security even INSIDE some of the schools here. She was only 5 at the time so we were ok for her to be in a government run local school, but we took her out immediately and placed her in a private school with some security, made her memorize grandma's phone number, watch out for suspicious people etc etc. You can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for the parents who's children were taken.

[F1fanatic]

At the end of the day, this is Thailand. I've seen kids of around 9 to 10 driving scooters to school! A couple of years older and they've got friends on the back....

The Thai parents presumably have no problems with their children walking home, otherwise if enough parents complained perhaps they'd change. Perhaps child abduction is rarer here than in the West? It would make sense as paedophiles would find it easier to find the adolescents they love 'more available' than in the West?

I don't intend to bring the discussion down, but this is why a Western parent would not want their young child walking home alone.

My niece used to go to school in Cha Am. One day during lunch she went to the toilet and when she came back the friends she was eating lunch with had disappeared. Every single one of them had been abducted. Other children reported seeing a van pull up outside, two men ran in, grabbed 4 kids and they were gone. My family left the area a couple of months afterwards and the children had still not been found by then.

Thailand is a country where misplaced bravado and nonchalant attitudes towards children's safety will end up coming back to bite you sooner or later. Yes the OP made a bad decision regarding his school choice, but at least he had admitted that and has taken immediate steps to better the situation. There is no rule book for bringing up kids but there is also no excuse for not learning from your mistakes and doing the very best for your kids safety and wellbeing.

That is awful! When did it happen?

4 years ago. It was bad, and we can only thank our lucky stars that she went to the toilet when she did. But it opened our eyes to the complete lack of security even INSIDE some of the schools here. She was only 5 at the time so we were ok for her to be in a government run local school, but we took her out immediately and placed her in a private school with some security, made her memorize grandma's phone number, watch out for suspicious people etc etc. You can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for the parents who's children were taken.

Even more depressing is that as far as I can see nobody reported on this . No wonder Thai parents do not have the fear of child abduction as Western parents.

[smokie36]

That is an extremely disturbing story. In Cha Am of all places!!

Was there any follow up on this? Any kids found etc...?

[Kananga]

None were found as far as I know. According to my wife this group had been operating in Southern Thailand for quite a while, although if that was common knowledge among the local authorities why was there not adequate security in the schools and why did no one know about it?

The most agonizing thing for the parents of those taken is you just dont know where your kids are going to end up. Begging in Bangkok? Paedo rings in Europe etc. Those poor parents have nothing but a lifetime of agonizing torture to look forward to if their kids are not found. Very very sad, and evil.

[chiangmaibruce]

Thats what you get for sending your kid to a sub-par (probably) Thai school.

The Int. schools have web portals, weekly newsletters, and 7 year olds are certainly not allowed to leave the school grounds with out their parents or approved guardian (who must present a valid ID at the gate). If a child was not picked up, the school should have kept her in the office until a parent was contacted.

Send your kid to a proper school or stop complaining.

International schools in Chiang Mai must be different then because information flows/communication are a real problem at our school - or at least have been in the past ... we have just recently installed a new principal and everyone is very enthusiatic about the progress he has made already. I have also heard similar rumblings - about poor communication by schools/individual staff - from those at other int. schools in CNX

[Kananga]

Thats what you get for sending your kid to a sub-par (probably) Thai school.

The Int. schools have web portals, weekly newsletters, and 7 year olds are certainly not allowed to leave the school grounds with out their parents or approved guardian (who must present a valid ID at the gate). If a child was not picked up, the school should have kept her in the office until a parent was contacted.

Send your kid to a proper school or stop complaining.

International schools in Chiang Mai must be different then because information flows/communication are a real problem at our school - or at least have been in the past ... we have just recently installed a new principal and everyone is very enthusiatic about the progress he has made already. I have also heard similar rumblings - about poor communication by schools/individual staff - from those at other int. schools in CNX

How dare you expect them to bother about such petty things as communication and information? There are Nazi uniforms to prepare!

[Forethat]

How dare you expect them to bother about such petty things as communication and information? There are Nazi uniforms to prepare!

That is actually my perception of the average TV poster - complete and utter contempt for communicated information, especially if it's correct information supported by empiric facts.

[Kananga]

How dare you expect them to bother about such petty things as communication and information? There are Nazi uniforms to prepare!

That is actually my perception of the average TV poster - complete and utter contempt for communicated information, especially if it's correct information supported by empiric facts.

Surely you mean empirical facts? Even so, I heartily agree with you. Shame on them.

[StreetCowboy]

How dare you expect them to bother about such petty things as communication and information? There are Nazi uniforms to prepare!

That is actually my perception of the average TV poster - complete and utter contempt for communicated information, especially if it's correct information supported by empiric facts.

Surely you mean empirical facts? Even so, I heartily agree with you. Shame on them.

Imperial facts. None of your metric measures here, please.

Give them an inch and they'll take 1.6something kilometres

SC

[Kananga]

How dare you expect them to bother about such petty things as communication and information? There are Nazi uniforms to prepare!

That is actually my perception of the average TV poster - complete and utter contempt for communicated information, especially if it's correct information supported by empiric facts.

Surely you mean empirical facts? Even so, I heartily agree with you. Shame on them.

Imperial facts. None of your metric measures here, please.

Give them an inch and they'll take 1.6something kilometres

SC

Imperial? Surely you mean colonial?

[nocturn]

At the end of the day, this is Thailand. I've seen kids of around 9 to 10 driving scooters to school! A couple of years older and they've got friends on the back....

The Thai parents presumably have no problems with their children walking home, otherwise if enough parents complained perhaps they'd change. Perhaps child abduction is rarer here than in the West? It would make sense as paedophiles would find it easier to find the adolescents they love 'more available' than in the West?

I don't intend to bring the discussion down, but this is why a Western parent would not want their young child walking home alone.

My niece used to go to school in Cha Am. One day during lunch she went to the toilet and when she came back the friends she was eating lunch with had disappeared. Every single one of them had been abducted. Other children reported seeing a van pull up outside, two men ran in, grabbed 4 kids and they were gone. My family left the area a couple of months afterwards and the children had still not been found by then.

Thailand is a country where misplaced bravado and nonchalant attitudes towards children's safety will end up coming back to bite you sooner or later. Yes the OP made a bad decision regarding his school choice, but at least he had admitted that and has taken immediate steps to better the situation. There is no rule book for bringing up kids but there is also no excuse for not learning from your mistakes and doing the very best for your kids safety and wellbeing.

that is positively <deleted> terrifying

[Forethat]

How dare you expect them to bother about such petty things as communication and information? There are Nazi uniforms to prepare!

That is actually my perception of the average TV poster - complete and utter contempt for communicated information, especially if it's correct information supported by empiric facts.

Surely you mean empirical facts? Even so, I heartily agree with you. Shame on them.

Yes, the two words are both nouns, they mean the same thing, so YES, that is what I meant.

Empiric / Empirical

[Kilgore Trout]

with the limited local choices i have. when he gets to 18, if he so chooses he can go to a uni outside thailand.

If the child has grown up in the village going to a Thai school, can't see this happening.

Have you looked into the requirements of getting into a western university for kids with this background? Certainly hope they are ready to pass the tests

[Johnniey]

Even more depressing is that as far as I can see nobody reported on this . No wonder Thai parents do not have the fear of child abduction as Western parents.

In my experience Thai parents have a great fear of child abduction, more than the UK, I'd have thought(not sure as I've been away for a long time) as abduction is far more common here.

My childrens' safety comes before anything. It's sad but they've had to be escorted to and from school, after-school, friend's houses, music lessons for all their lives. This has cost my wife and I considerable time and money but it is SO important here.

Kids have to be disciplined - don't talk to strangers, don't go anywhere yourself. etc

Kids being stolen happens so often - kids being stolen for their organs to be sold.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Johnniey

[Johnniey]

with the limited local choices i have. when he gets to 18, if he so chooses he can go to a uni outside thailand.

If the child has grown up in the village going to a Thai school, can't see this happening.

Have you looked into the requirements of getting into a western university for kids with this background? Certainly hope they are ready to pass the tests

They'd have no chance. I think it's essential that they get into good private schools by the time they're 13 or extensive private tutoring.

Another thing - start saving now, it's very expensive sending your kids to uni abroad.

[qualtrough]

Thats what you get for sending your kid to a sub-par (probably) Thai school.

The Int. schools have web portals, weekly newsletters, and 7 year olds are certainly not allowed to leave the school grounds with out their parents or approved guardian (who must present a valid ID at the gate). If a child was not picked up, the school should have kept her in the office until a parent was contacted.

Send your kid to a proper school or stop complaining.

Its not as simple as that kilgore. we live in the sticks so the only school available is the local school. failing that my 10 year old would have to rise at 5 a.m. get a bus to the nearest town school 50 km away and then have to go through the return trip. i have seen kids arrive home at 6:30 pm.

what needs to be done is for the schools to have some foresight and thought process when they want or need to close early. the same happens in my kids school. they cancel lessons to attend retirement parties or for school trips. 30 students go on the trips and so do ALL of the teachers. its a free jaunt, so why not. the other 600 students are told not to come to school. its wrong and affects the students' education but hey! mai pen rai.

Is there a compelling reason that you're living in the sticks? IE., one that trumps the educational needs of your kids?

What an excellent point! Any child not attending a first rate international school is doomed to failure. No child growing up in a rural area outside of Bangkok will ever amount to anything, it's been scientifically proven. Not only that, but few of them even survive the experience. What's more, if your child cannot read by age three he/she might as well quit school, and if you can't get him/her into an exclusive pre-kindergarten prep school you have failed as a parent! The most important thing in life is to get your precious little snowflake into the very best school you can or you are just a very bad person.

[Richard4849]

The most important thing in life is to get your precious little snowflake into the very best school you can or you are just a very bad person.

I agree with your statement, even though you made it sarcastically.

Giving a child the best education possible is the number one responsibility of a parent -- in my humble opinion, of course.

[qualtrough]

The most important thing in life is to get your precious little snowflake into the very best school you can or you are just a very bad person.

I agree with your statement, even though you made it sarcastically.

Giving a child the best education possible is the number one responsibility of a parent -- in my humble opinion, of course.

Agreed, but you are focusing on just one factor in a good education--the school, while ignoring the role of the parents, the child and his/her innate abilities and motivation, the environment, etc. So many variables are involved, and we haven't even started on what constitutes a 'successful' life.

[Richard4849]

The most important thing in life is to get your precious little snowflake into the very best school you can or you are just a very bad person.

I agree with your statement, even though you made it sarcastically.

Giving a child the best education possible is the number one responsibility of a parent -- in my humble opinion, of course.

Agreed, but you are focusing on just one factor in a good education--the school, while ignoring the role of the parents, the child and his/her innate abilities and motivation, the environment, etc. So many variables are involved, and we haven't even started on what constitutes a 'successful' life.

Indeed...but the school is the one factor you mention that can be controlled. The others are what they are.

[khaowong1]

this is exactly why i got my 8 year old a fino. i feel better knowing she can ride.

Here's a safer option. Least she can't fall off. Pedo's beware.

she's got one of those in her saddlebags

[Mossfinn]

What an excellent point! Any child not attending a first rate international school is doomed to failure. No child growing up in a rural area outside of Bangkok will ever amount to anything, it's been scientifically proven. Not only that, but few of them even survive the experience. What's more, if your child cannot read by age three he/she might as well quit school, and if you can't get him/her into an exclusive pre-kindergarten prep school you have failed as a parent! The most important thing in life is to get your precious little snowflake into the very best school you can or you are just a very bad person.

I opened this thread, kind of hoping for a motivational point, a heart raising achievement, something to celebrate, I ended up, after reading the above quote and scanning through a certain amount of the other half-wits, trolls and those hoping for a bite on the end of the line actually believing quals post to be genuine, so apologies for that.

Rakers, glad everything turned out OK, and any gaps left in any education can always be hoovered up by private or personal education.

[bow]

Thats what you get for sending your kid to a sub-par (probably) Thai school.

The Int. schools have web portals, weekly newsletters, and 7 year olds are certainly not allowed to leave the school grounds with out their parents or approved guardian (who must present a valid ID at the gate). If a child was not picked up, the school should have kept her in the office until a parent was contacted.

Send your kid to a proper school or stop complaining.

Its not as simple as that kilgore. we live in the sticks so the only school available is the local school. failing that my 10 year old would have to rise at 5 a.m. get a bus to the nearest town school 50 km away and then have to go through the return trip. i have seen kids arrive home at 6:30 pm.

what needs to be done is for the schools to have some foresight and thought process when they want or need to close early. the same happens in my kids school. they cancel lessons to attend retirement parties or for school trips. 30 students go on the trips and so do ALL of the teachers. its a free jaunt, so why not. the other 600 students are told not to come to school. its wrong and affects the students' education but hey! mai pen rai.

Is there a compelling reason that you're living in the sticks? IE., one that trumps the educational needs of your kids?

What an excellent point! Any child not attending a first rate international school is doomed to failure. No child growing up in a rural area outside of Bangkok will ever amount to anything, it's been scientifically proven. Not only that, but few of them even survive the experience. What's more, if your child cannot read by age three he/she might as well quit school, and if you can't get him/her into an exclusive pre-kindergarten prep school you have failed as a parent! The most important thing in life is to get your precious little snowflake into the very best school you can or you are just a very bad person.

Surly this must be a "troll post".

[BuddhistDruid]

Have always found this strange.

Defeats me why on earth they can not produce a school calendar, and more importantly stick to it!

Believe me, we teachers wonder the same thing.

One difference I had to get used to, teaching here, is that the individual school directors have so much power- it's not like Britain or Japan where a central agency controls so much of the curriculum and the scheduling and also is constantly checking and crosschecking for compliance. If a school director wants to cancel classes for pretty much any reason- he can. The more professional schools do make a pretty good show of predicting the longer holidays and meetings in advance on a calendar, and may mostly stick to them, but that never seems to mean that more classes can't be cancelled for any reason at any time, including the last minute.

Most of the students I've taught are old enough to be more responsible, but I can see in the case of younger kids such as this there are disastrous possibilities! Very irresponsible of the school to handle things that way- but may not necessarily be the individual teacher's fault (teachers are not always informed en masse of administrative decisions in advance, so your fellow parent's child's teacher may be closer to the centre of power).

Yet one more reason why I think homeschooling is the better choice. I would never accept someone putting my children at risk this way.