Raffles Institution (Year 1-4)
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edupod:
The reality is this: if your son cannot cope with a horror movie, he cannot cope with school life in Raffles Institution. The horror movie is just a smallish atom in a series of interesting challenges that your son will experience in the next 6 years.
edupod, may we know how/why you say that if our boys cant cope with the horror movie, they cant cope with school life in RI? And you said that's a reality too. Pls do not make sweeping statements like this unless you've facts to back it up.
Are you then saying that all these movie ratings are rubbish? Or these are meant for all kids except the future leaders and thinkers?
These boys did not join RI to be paranormal investigators; being fearful of horror movies/rollercoasters is perfectly normal. It doesnt have any bearing on your future! -
Good evening all,
I am a member of the PSLs for the batch of 2013. Having stumbled upon this forum and read the many comments posted by concerned parents, I feel that there is an urgent need for clarification. Especially for the fright night conducted during the second night of the camp, which started at 8pm and ended at 11.30pm.
It is so that the students were shown Dead Silence and Shutter, with both movies picked in order to set the tone and atmosphere of fright night. Both were the PG versions, which I quote, refer to “Parental Guidance Suggested”. Do note, that it is suggested, not required. Furthermore, PSLs and teachers were present at the screening and an announcement was made to all the sec ones, stating that if they do not want to watch the movie, or get too scared during the film, all they have to do is to approach one of the many PSLs and inform them.
The PSLs will then bring the secondary one student to the Operations Room, where comedies were screened. These students will then be exempted from the fright night activities. This measure, however, did not apply to students who were closing their eyes or not watching the movie. This was because they had made the decision to continue staying in the hall and continue watching the movie despite having been offered a way out and we as peer support leaders have to respect their decision to remain in the hall.
The rationale for not pulling out those student who were visibly scared was because the announcement had been loud and clear, repeated, and students who asked to leave said that the message was clear, if one wanted to leave, he would be escorted out. Therefore, we decided not to pull out the remaining students because they had heard the message, wanted to leave, but did not request to do so. There is nothing the PSLs could have done if the students had not come forth.
The activities following the movie, and the stories, were either passed down from seniors or invented, with the goal being to bond a group of five students who hardly knew each other due to the fact that there was a common fear and a common experience they could relate to after the activity. There was no intention whatsoever to make students cry and PSLs were stationed along the route to ensure the overall safety of the secondary one students.
We regret to hear that the secondary ones have been traumatised by this experience but we hope that you understand that this was not meant to frighten secondary ones to the point where they are afraid of being alone or being near the school. In fact it was designed to create an experience where the secondary one students could all relate to as an common experience. This was reflected in Day 3’s improved student morale and enthusiasm. Also, the PSLs did what they could with regards to allowing those that did not want to watch or participate to be exempted from the activity all together.
We seek your due understanding. Thank you.
On a side note, there is no relationship whatsoever between fright night and life in RI. Irregardless of your son/ward’s reaction to the movies, life in RI will be what he makes it out to be.
Yours Sincerely,
Foong Yi Zhuan
+65 9118 9751
Camp Committee (Organisation Committee)
Raffles Institution Prefectorial Board (RIPB)
National Cadet Corps (RI NCC ) -
nauhziy:
Probably the sec ones think that they will \"lose face\" if they were to be escorted out in the middle of the show. :?
The rationale for not pulling out those student who were visibly scared was because the announcement had been loud and clear, repeated, and students who asked to leave said that the message was clear, if one wanted to leave, he would be escorted out. Therefore, we decided not to pull out the remaining students because they had heard the message, wanted to leave, but did not request to do so. There is nothing the PSLs could have done if the students had not come forth. -
edupod:
Is your son in RI? My opinion is the whole camp is just to let the boys have fun and experience. Why read so much into the meaning of it? After all, it's a tradition passed down and it was organised by the students themselves. :whut:Every elite school in Singapore has some form of orientation events for their new students. This follows the tradition of famous boarding schools and top universities in USA and UK. Being elite schools with very bright students, these orientation events are run by the student leaders who have been through similar orientation processes when they joined the schools as new students several years ago.
In Raffles Institution, the Sec One Orientation Camp is part of the tradition of the school. The probable purpose is to induct the students into the Rafflesian lifestyle through a series of experiential activities which stretch them intellectually and physically. Only after the orientation camp, will the Sec Ones earn their RI badge.
As new Sec Ones in a premier school, your boys have to adopt a new mindset - a big shift from a young primary school kid to a confident secondary school boy. For some boys from neighbourhood primary schools, the transition is even more challenging as they need to cope with a new environment where the boys are generally well-behaved. It is like when you are upgraded from Economy Class to Business Class during your flight, you have to upgrade your behaviour as well because you will be seated with a different class of passengers.
As you probably know, RI aims to nurture the Thinker, Leader and Pioneer in your son over the next 6 years.
As part of the Sec One orientation camp, a horror movie is shown every year ( just for fun ) and ghost stories told. The Thinker in most RI boys know how to separate facts from fiction and they know that these movies and stories are not real.
Just like in Harvard University or MIT, there are expectations that the students in RI are a better crop. And RI does things differently from other schools. So you cannot compare what RI does to what a neighbourhood school does.
Being amongst the best of the best in Singapore plus the bright ASEAN scholars who will be joining in Sec 3, your son really have to be \" imba \" - a commonly-used RI term for \" top-notch, excellent, awesome, etc \"
It is a BIG change for the new Sec Ones. Few months ago, they were in a primary school and now they are in a top secondary school, with all the pressure and expectations !!
The reality is this: if your son cannot cope with a horror movie, he cannot cope with school life in Raffles Institution. The horror movie is just a smallish atom in a series of interesting challenges that your son will experience in the next 6 years.
The bottomline is this - your son has earned his place in RI. Trust the system which has worked for the last 186 years. Help him to adjust to his new world and he will become a worthy Rafflesian that you will be proud of. -
edupod:
Dear edupod, while I can accept that the movie is really meant as a \"scary stories around the campfire\" event, to equate the ability of a student to handle the movie to his ability of coping with school life in RI is a tad too novel an idea for me.Every elite school in Singapore has some form of orientation events for their new students. This follows the tradition of famous boarding schools and top universities in USA and UK. Being elite schools with very bright students, these orientation events are run by the student leaders who have been through similar orientation processes when they joined the schools as new students several years ago.
In Raffles Institution, the Sec One Orientation Camp is part of the tradition of the school. The probable purpose is to induct the students into the Rafflesian lifestyle through a series of experiential activities which stretch them intellectually and physically. Only after the orientation camp, will the Sec Ones earn their RI badge.
As new Sec Ones in a premier school, your boys have to adopt a new mindset - a big shift from a young primary school kid to a confident secondary school boy. For some boys from neighbourhood primary schools, the transition is even more challenging as they need to cope with a new environment where the boys are generally well-behaved. It is like when you are upgraded from Economy Class to Business Class during your flight, you have to upgrade your behaviour as well because you will be seated with a different class of passengers.
As you probably know, RI aims to nurture the Thinker, Leader and Pioneer in your son over the next 6 years.
As part of the Sec One orientation camp, a horror movie is shown every year ( just for fun ) and ghost stories told. The Thinker in most RI boys know how to separate facts from fiction and they know that these movies and stories are not real.
Just like in Harvard University or MIT, there are expectations that the students in RI are a better crop. And RI does things differently from other schools. So you cannot compare what RI does to what a neighbourhood school does.
Being amongst the best of the best in Singapore plus the bright ASEAN scholars who will be joining in Sec 3, your son really have to be \" imba \" - a commonly-used RI term for \" top-notch, excellent, awesome, etc \"
It is a BIG change for the new Sec Ones. Few months ago, they were in a primary school and now they are in a top secondary school, with all the pressure and expectations !!
The reality is this: if your son cannot cope with a horror movie, he cannot cope with school life in Raffles Institution. The horror movie is just a smallish atom in a series of interesting challenges that your son will experience in the next 6 years.
The bottomline is this - your son has earned his place in RI. Trust the system which has worked for the last 186 years. Help him to adjust to his new world and he will become a worthy Rafflesian that you will be proud of.
And I don't think you do justice to the true spirit of RI with your strong emphasis on elitism. Students from neighbourhood Primary schools having to learn better manners because they have now been upgraded from Economy seats to Business Class seats and thus in the company of a better class of passengers? Is there really a need for such an inappropriate metaphor to express your faith in the premiership of RI? -
edupod,
No one is questioning the importance of camp and we all respect RI tradition but you are wrong in assuming that a horror movie that was not suitable for 12 year old was required to immerse him into RI tradition. I am all for wholesome activities to help cultivate character but sorry I do not buy your argument that horror movie is required to build character.
And I take strong exception to your comparison of neighbourhood primary school as economy class and RI as business class. This is utter nonsense and I sincerely hope it doesn't represent the view of school.
- Kathyedupod:
Every elite school in Singapore has some form of orientation events for their new students. This follows the tradition of famous boarding schools and top universities in USA and UK. Being elite schools with very bright students, these orientation events are run by the student leaders who have been through similar orientation processes when they joined the schools as new students several years ago.
In Raffles Institution, the Sec One Orientation Camp is part of the tradition of the school. The probable purpose is to induct the students into the Rafflesian lifestyle through a series of experiential activities which stretch them intellectually and physically. Only after the orientation camp, will the Sec Ones earn their RI badge.
As new Sec Ones in a premier school, your boys have to adopt a new mindset - a big shift from a young primary school kid to a confident secondary school boy. For some boys from neighbourhood primary schools, the transition is even more challenging as they need to cope with a new environment where the boys are generally well-behaved. It is like when you are upgraded from Economy Class to Business Class during your flight, you have to upgrade your behaviour as well because you will be seated with a different class of passengers.
As you probably know, RI aims to nurture the Thinker, Leader and Pioneer in your son over the next 6 years.
As part of the Sec One orientation camp, a horror movie is shown every year ( just for fun ) and ghost stories told. The Thinker in most RI boys know how to separate facts from fiction and they know that these movies and stories are not real.
Just like in Harvard University or MIT, there are expectations that the students in RI are a better crop. And RI does things differently from other schools. So you cannot compare what RI does to what a neighbourhood school does.
Being amongst the best of the best in Singapore plus the bright ASEAN scholars who will be joining in Sec 3, your son really have to be \" imba \" - a commonly-used RI term for \" top-notch, excellent, awesome, etc \"
It is a BIG change for the new Sec Ones. Few months ago, they were in a primary school and now they are in a top secondary school, with all the pressure and expectations !!
The reality is this: if your son cannot cope with a horror movie, he cannot cope with school life in Raffles Institution. The horror movie is just a smallish atom in a series of interesting challenges that your son will experience in the next 6 years.
The bottomline is this - your son has earned his place in RI. Trust the system which has worked for the last 186 years. Help him to adjust to his new world and he will become a worthy Rafflesian that you will be proud of. -
Wikipedia clearly says that it is R-rated in US (and not PG). R Rated movie means \"Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian\".
I appreciate the efforts put up by PSLs during the camp but I do not think this horror movie experience was necessary at all.nauhziy:
Good evening all,
I am a member of the PSLs for the batch of 2013. Having stumbled upon this forum and read the many comments posted by concerned parents, I feel that there is an urgent need for clarification. Especially for the fright night conducted during the second night of the camp, which started at 8pm and ended at 11.30pm.
It is so that the students were shown Dead Silence and Shutter, with both movies picked in order to set the tone and atmosphere of fright night. Both were the PG versions, which I quote, refer to “Parental Guidance Suggested”. Do note, that it is suggested, not required. Furthermore, PSLs and teachers were present at the screening and an announcement was made to all the sec ones, stating that if they do not want to watch the movie, or get too scared during the film, all they have to do is to approach one of the many PSLs and inform them.
The PSLs will then bring the secondary one student to the Operations Room, where comedies were screened. These students will then be exempted from the fright night activities. This measure, however, did not apply to students who were closing their eyes or not watching the movie. This was because they had made the decision to continue staying in the hall and continue watching the movie despite having been offered a way out and we as peer support leaders have to respect their decision to remain in the hall.
The rationale for not pulling out those student who were visibly scared was because the announcement had been loud and clear, repeated, and students who asked to leave said that the message was clear, if one wanted to leave, he would be escorted out. Therefore, we decided not to pull out the remaining students because they had heard the message, wanted to leave, but did not request to do so. There is nothing the PSLs could have done if the students had not come forth.
The activities following the movie, and the stories, were either passed down from seniors or invented, with the goal being to bond a group of five students who hardly knew each other due to the fact that there was a common fear and a common experience they could relate to after the activity. There was no intention whatsoever to make students cry and PSLs were stationed along the route to ensure the overall safety of the secondary one students.
We regret to hear that the secondary ones have been traumatised by this experience but we hope that you understand that this was not meant to frighten secondary ones to the point where they are afraid of being alone or being near the school. In fact it was designed to create an experience where the secondary one students could all relate to as an common experience. This was reflected in Day 3’s improved student morale and enthusiasm. Also, the PSLs did what they could with regards to allowing those that did not want to watch or participate to be exempted from the activity all together.
We seek your due understanding. Thank you.
On a side note, there is no relationship whatsoever between fright night and life in RI. Irregardless of your son/ward's reaction to the movies, life in RI will be what he makes it out to be.
Yours Sincerely,
Foong Yi Zhuan
+65 9118 9751
Camp Committee (Organisation Committee)
Raffles Institution Prefectorial Board (RIPB)
National Cadet Corps (RI NCC ) -
Sorry, I'm not attacking you or anything, but I'd really like to ask: what is the point specifically in telling ghost stories and watching horror movies?
These two activities are obviously designed to induce fear, especially with such a high concentration of horror movies and stories in the same night.
Yes, the boys can request to be exempted, and yes, it's a tradition, but I think the objectives of bonding and being able to relate to each other can be achieved through other more wholesome activities.
Bonding through \"common fear\" sounds like a terribly unhealthy objective of an event organised and endorsed by the school, an event meant for the Sec 1s to orientate themselves with RI while having healthy fun.
I encourage parents to raise this issue with the school. You'd really be doing the future batches of Sec 1s a favour.nauhziy:
Good evening all,
I am a member of the PSLs for the batch of 2013. Having stumbled upon this forum and read the many comments posted by concerned parents, I feel that there is an urgent need for clarification. Especially for the fright night conducted during the second night of the camp, which started at 8pm and ended at 11.30pm.
It is so that the students were shown Dead Silence and Shutter, with both movies picked in order to set the tone and atmosphere of fright night. Both were the PG versions, which I quote, refer to “Parental Guidance Suggested”. Do note, that it is suggested, not required. Furthermore, PSLs and teachers were present at the screening and an announcement was made to all the sec ones, stating that if they do not want to watch the movie, or get too scared during the film, all they have to do is to approach one of the many PSLs and inform them.
The PSLs will then bring the secondary one student to the Operations Room, where comedies were screened. These students will then be exempted from the fright night activities. This measure, however, did not apply to students who were closing their eyes or not watching the movie. This was because they had made the decision to continue staying in the hall and continue watching the movie despite having been offered a way out and we as peer support leaders have to respect their decision to remain in the hall.
The rationale for not pulling out those student who were visibly scared was because the announcement had been loud and clear, repeated, and students who asked to leave said that the message was clear, if one wanted to leave, he would be escorted out. Therefore, we decided not to pull out the remaining students because they had heard the message, wanted to leave, but did not request to do so. There is nothing the PSLs could have done if the students had not come forth.
The activities following the movie, and the stories, were either passed down from seniors or invented, with the goal being to bond a group of five students who hardly knew each other due to the fact that there was a common fear and a common experience they could relate to after the activity. There was no intention whatsoever to make students cry and PSLs were stationed along the route to ensure the overall safety of the secondary one students.
We regret to hear that the secondary ones have been traumatised by this experience but we hope that you understand that this was not meant to frighten secondary ones to the point where they are afraid of being alone or being near the school. In fact it was designed to create an experience where the secondary one students could all relate to as an common experience. This was reflected in Day 3’s improved student morale and enthusiasm. Also, the PSLs did what they could with regards to allowing those that did not want to watch or participate to be exempted from the activity all together.
We seek your due understanding. Thank you.
On a side note, there is no relationship whatsoever between fright night and life in RI. Irregardless of your son/ward's reaction to the movies, life in RI will be what he makes it out to be.
Yours Sincerely,
Foong Yi Zhuan
+65 9118 9751
Camp Committee (Organisation Committee)
Raffles Institution Prefectorial Board (RIPB)
National Cadet Corps (RI NCC ) -
When boys organise activities, they like ghost activites…
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Hi,
I have been following this thread, getting many valuable and updated information from parents whenever they have concerns. I was one of the parents with my boy attending the orientation camp. I was really early on the last day of the camp waiting at the Sec 1 block and saw how the PSLs went all the way out when they saw one boy from Rosyth(wearing his Pri Sch T-shirt and also attending orientation camp) who was almost in tears and did not dare to tell the PSL his problem. One of the PSLs seeing him behaving strangely, walk towards him with a gentle and concern voice offering help. This boy did not dare to tell the PSL his problem and briefly said that he has a headache. This PSL was able to sense it was more than that, probe further and found out he was hungry. This PSL has no money with him and asked the other PSLs for some cash to get him something to eat at the canteen.
These PSLs who organised this camp had shown maturity and capability of handling the sec 1 boys. Most importantly, they did it with a good heart to provide support, care and concern when they see their junior in needs. The purpose of sharing what I saw here is to let parents know that these PSLs had did a great job inculcating the RI values to their juniors. They deserved a pat on the back! Please do not let this movie screening matter dampen the spirit of these PSLs as I believe they must have thought through when they decide to screen the horror movie.
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