School boy killed outside school gate

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Tue, 02 Jul 2019 03:39:59 GMT

Hendon — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 03:39:59 GMT

thearia27\" post_id=\"1916773\" time=\"1561991056\" user_id=\"178914:

Hi everyone. I know it's been a while since this incident has happened, but after reading the comments here, I felt like sharing my opinion.

First of all, I was Yu Heng's friend. I knew him quite well, and we practically grew up together. Hearing about his death really scarred me; to think I'd lose a friend in such an instant was unimaginable. Especially when I was at the tender age of ten. Till today, I still remember him and the times we had together. I'd never forget him as a classmate, or a friend.

Secondly, you can't blame his parents. We were supposed to have a break after the dismissal bell, as we had a field trip to go to. I remember where we were supposed to go- The Singapore River. He wanted to go to the mama shop to buy some snacks, but that would mean he had to rush there and back- we didn't have a very long break.

True, there was no one watching the road, I saw it with my own eyes as I got food from my domestic helper at the gate. As I did, I heard someone scream. I saw people clustering at the road side. The next moment I knew, I was prompted by my helper to go have my food. As I ate, I heard my classmates talk about the incident that just happened. Apparently someone hit Yu Heng just as he was dashing across the road. There was quite a bit of gore; most possibly why my helper didn't want me to look.

I remembered seeing my teacher rushing to the gate- she heard about the news. I can still see the anxious face she made back then. My classmates and I were then placed in a waiting room where we were supposed to stay till our parents came. My classmates began speculating who did this and who did that. Several theories came, one more ridiculous than the previous.

I heard about his death the next day. It honestly wasn't a good time for me. I didn't want to go out of the house at all. I didn't go to his wake either, because I had developed some form of depression.

It still affects me to this day. I admit, I search up this topic still, because the 10 year old me would've wanted to know more. I also wished to have my input heard on this incident.

Thank you for sharing

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 01 Jul 2019 14:24:16 GMT

thearia27 — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 14:24:16 GMT

Hi everyone. I know it’s been a while since this incident has happened, but after reading the comments here, I felt like sharing my opinion.

First of all, I was Yu Heng’s friend. I knew him quite well, and we practically grew up together. Hearing about his death really scarred me; to think I’d lose a friend in such an instant was unimaginable. Especially when I was at the tender age of ten. Till today, I still remember him and the times we had together. I’d never forget him as a classmate, or a friend.

Secondly, you can’t blame his parents. We were supposed to have a break after the dismissal bell, as we had a field trip to go to. I remember where we were supposed to go- The Singapore River. He wanted to go to the mama shop to buy some snacks, but that would mean he had to rush there and back- we didn’t have a very long break.

True, there was no one watching the road, I saw it with my own eyes as I got food from my domestic helper at the gate. As I did, I heard someone scream. I saw people clustering at the road side. The next moment I knew, I was prompted by my helper to go have my food. As I ate, I heard my classmates talk about the incident that just happened. Apparently someone hit Yu Heng just as he was dashing across the road. There was quite a bit of gore; most possibly why my helper didn’t want me to look.

I remembered seeing my teacher rushing to the gate- she heard about the news. I can still see the anxious face she made back then. My classmates and I were then placed in a waiting room where we were supposed to stay till our parents came. My classmates began speculating who did this and who did that. Several theories came, one more ridiculous than the previous.

I heard about his death the next day. It honestly wasn’t a good time for me. I didn’t want to go out of the house at all. I didn’t go to his wake either, because I had developed some form of depression.

It still affects me to this day. I admit, I search up this topic still, because the 10 year old me would’ve wanted to know more. I also wished to have my input heard on this incident.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:45:48 GMT

hquek — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:45:48 GMT

Been feeding my kids that even if lights are in their favor, they must still lookout for traffic. Whatever the cause, it is the one not encased in metal that will be in danger.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:56:59 GMT

happyheart — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:56:59 GMT

I happened to know the uncle of the poor boy. It’s very sad for the family and they are having a hard time to cope with the lost.

Let’s just say the family does not have the luxury of fetching kids to & fro and a lot depends on the kids, even after school hours. As far as I know, the boy is very well behaved and it was just unfortunate that this has happened. While investigation is still on going and no one really know what has happened, the lesson we learnt here is to educate our children ( and helpers) and remind them every now and then to exercise caution on road safety. We, parents must show by leading examples. Do not take short cuts etc.
Let’s not judge our children by age and determine when they should be officially ready to make their way home independently. If family situation permits, The question is to understand if the kid is up to it yet, or require a bit more training time.
Some primary kids are just not yet skillful in terms of motor skill, distance
judgement etc, but they will come one day.

Bless all our children and Happy Lunar New Year to all! 新年快乐！

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:41:55 GMT

DedicatedDad — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:41:55 GMT

My deepest condolence to parents.

I saw in the traffic light, green man on for pedestrian. But one car never stop and go. My friend’s son 1 cm away from the car.

My son’s school principal said parents pls obey the traffic lights when u cross the road. If we cross with them illegally they also do that without us.

My son from p2 onwards asking to come by himself but I don’t allow him. P3 onwards I allow him. He came by himself.I always reminded him becarrful when u cross the road. Green light blinking then cannot cross and wait for the next green man appear.

I am doing traffic duty for PV in a school.Some parents illegally crossed the road. Some crossing in the traffic light but red man appear.I show the signal stop, after that also one parent crossed. I warned them next time I will pass the IC to principal. There were two boys walking very slowly without see the number. They started late then they walked slowly.I told them next cannot cross when the number 05. Cos number started from 09.
One day one granny with grandson in a bike and cross the road.her bike very near to bus. I stunned. I talk to her. She said her son also study there and she knows the school more than 30 years. I told her nicely is my duty to tell her and for good for her safety. I told her come early so u will have time to see the road and cross. After that she became my gd friend.
When I approached to parents their response very bad, huh? What? Who r u?
It’s my duty.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:18:59 GMT

atrecord — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:18:59 GMT

MMM:

Atrecord,

Dh always tell the kids that he started taking a bus from bedok to hougang all by himself when he was P1. Many a times, dh also has to worry about ringing the bus alarm (the alarm used to be at the ceiling and not child/ short people friendly). But luckily for him, he is alighting at a popular stop.

Our kids P4 and P5 started coming back by themselves this year. We are like 12 bus stops/ 30 mins away from school and there are some roads/ car parks to cross. We started to let go alittle last year. It was not easy.... we would worry about them crossing the carparks from school to bus stop. We would also worry about them being \"kidnapped\" (eg. read/ heard about scams where people get calls for this) or for girls \"molested\". Frankly, there are alot of concerns and yes, it's been 2 weeks since school reopen and we've not fully let go.

I agree that drivers must be careful. But we also encounter some parents letting kids who look like pre-schoolers cross road on their own. As kids of that age are small, sometimes car might not be able to see them well if they are blocked. Also, drivers must be patient. Sometimes the car infront of you stopped for a valid reason. Eg. waiting for a child/ old person to cross the road, don't attempt to overtake.

I think to a large extent, parents nowadays have fewer kids and therefore 'cotton wool' them more so than in the past. I'm sure my grandparents didn't bring my parents everywhere they went. But circumstances were also different: there were few/no cars then, the adults needed to work hard to bring back enough dough to feed the family for a start, the pace of living was not so stressful, etc.

So while we'll exposed the kids to learn the necessary life skills, I'll rather play safe and delay some things...

Having said that, some things cannot be avoided, so we'll have to expose them sooner or later. It's like taking a plane. When we hear about the accidents, we'll also be worried, but we still fly, don't we...

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:45:45 GMT

BeContented — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:45:45 GMT

Insan4IT:
Really heartbreaking ... My condolences to the family.

Drivers, please be safe than sorry.

Parents, teachers, please educate our kids on road safety.

LTA, a hump on the road, a red light camera or the speed strips might have save a life.

No one wanted this to happen, but it did. Life have to go on but take it with the lessons.

Agree.
I dun think drivers would want to have any accident and most of all, to kill anyone.

I used to ALWAYS blame the drivers....but now that I do drive, I realised it's not always so. Whatever it is, all parties must play their part and be safe road users.
And parents must educate their children not just on road safety, but general safety precautions too.....eg. despite all the elevators accidents, I am still witnessing parents allowing their toddlers to play with elevators :slapshead:

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:19:08 GMT

verykiasu2010 — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:19:08 GMT

JonC:
Good point about fetching, even parents, grandparents knock down with kids. So it's driver's fault.

Maybe look at livelihood from different angle. People are more stress up at work, these people with their mind blank in their head when driving and is dangerous.

Also, I find road today is really different from those many many years ago. Singaporean are generally quite well mannered, but nowadays, more lorries, buses, vans, pickups are driven by non-Singaporean drivers (because companies find them cheaper to employ). They tend to bring a different driving culture from their respective home country.

the person who drove the speeding cream-coloured Camry beating the red light is most likely a Singaporean

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:36:55 GMT

JonC — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:36:55 GMT

Good point about fetching, even parents, grandparents knock down with kids. So it’s driver’s fault.

Maybe look at livelihood from different angle. People are more stress up at work, these people with their mind blank in their head when driving and is dangerous.

Also, I find road today is really different from those many many years ago. Singaporean are generally quite well mannered, but nowadays, more lorries, buses, vans, pickups are driven by non-Singaporean drivers (because companies find them cheaper to employ). They tend to bring a different driving culture from their respective home country.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:28:10 GMT

Insan4IT — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:28:10 GMT

Really heartbreaking … My condolences to the family.

Drivers, please be safe than sorry.

Parents, teachers, please educate our kids on road safety.

LTA, a hump on the road, a red light camera or the speed strips might have save a life.

No one wanted this to happen, but it did. Life have to go on but take it with the lessons.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:48:46 GMT

BlueBells — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:48:46 GMT

JonC:
Parents no time to bring children, both have to work to make ends meet, who's fault? Those who collect million $ salary?

I don't think this is a fair statement. Let's be objective. If the parents can't make ends meet to afford school bus trips (where kids alight safely in the school compound), they can always approach the school for financial assistance. Same goes for school fees / textbooks and pocket money.

Whose fault? The driver who sped, IMO.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:34:55 GMT

Careermum — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:34:55 GMT

Previously, there were also news of kids died in RTA, despite being fetched home by parents & grandparents. So, being fetched is not a prevention in itself.

There are cases where both the kid + parent, or kid + grandparent, get knocked down.

The onus is on the driver, and on safety features eg road bumps

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:59:23 GMT

JonC — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:59:23 GMT

Parents no time to bring children, both have to work to make ends meet, who’s fault? Those who collect million $ salary?

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:24:08 GMT

BlueBells — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:24:08 GMT

My take?

Leave the teachers to do what they are trained for : TEACH. Teachers are not trained traffic wardens. They should not be made to look out for traffic for the kids. Teachers are people who have the passion to teach, to impart knowledge.

Take issue with the driver who is speeding, not the school or the teachers.

In some schools, the PVs and PSGs volunteer to help with traffic control when the send / pick their children to / from school. Unfortunately, the numbers are not huge.

I suppose the best way is to install speed humps or speed camera along the stretch of road to the schools, limiting speed to 40 km and issuing a fine and demerit point for those caught by the speed cameras. However, the investment costs may be quite substantial for the authorities.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:56:05 GMT

Funz — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:56:05 GMT

While I do not think that the school or LTA should be blamed, I the parents are not wrong to raise such questions as well. Why no adult supervision and why no speed bumps to deter speeding. It is just tragic that it took the death of a kid for people to start noticing such safety shortfalls.

My heart goes out to the family. I cannot even start to imagine the grieve they are going through right now.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:50:41 GMT

MMM — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:50:41 GMT

Mdm Koh:
My mum used to tell me when I was young that I should not just look out for the green man, but also wait for the vehicles to stop before crossing the road.

Not just green man.... Zebra crossing as well. Don't think pedestrian has the right just because it is zebra crossing. We must always look out for cars and trust our eyes more. It's too late if anything happens.

Maybe we should send kids to Shanghai for road crossing training and they might become a stronger road crosser.....It's amazing that drivers in Shanghai don't even respect the green man.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:37:52 GMT

Mdm Koh — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:37:52 GMT

I don’t think parents can watch over their kids all the time. The best parents can do is to educate their kids about the dangers of the road. My mum used to tell me when I was young that I should not just look out for the green man, but also wait for the vehicles to stop before crossing the road.

Some drivers may not be able to stop in time. Either they were driving too fast, or they were distracted and noticed the change in the lights too late. I have encountered some instances where vehicles either ignored the traffic light or went past the white line and had to reverse. Had there been any pedestrians crossing in front of those vehicles then, they would’ve been hit.

To be very safe, I think we should tell the kids to look out for vehicles even when the traffic light shows a green man.

My heart goes out to the parents of the boy. I hope that through the right education, we can prevent as many of these accidents as possible.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:27:15 GMT

corneyAmber — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:27:15 GMT

Grief causes the parents to think of many 'what if’s or 'If only’s . I am sure one of them would be ‘If only I have fetched my boy’ home. The self-bashing is definitely happening and probably to find another source of reason is to cushion this self-bashing a bit. But at the end, the living knows nothing can bring back the dead so take this as the space they need to get over their grief…It is definitely very tough on them. In some schools, security guards are doing the job at every child crossing during peak hours, maybe that is a more reliable approach for primary schools. So for the school, it might also be a good wake-up call to put priority on this. But I agree after all preventive measures taken, we have to leave it to God for protection.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:13:58 GMT

tutormum — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:13:58 GMT

There’s no point blaming anybody when such accidents happen. The parents must be grieved enough with a loss of their precious child and don’t need any judgment at this time. From the report, the poor boy was not playing on the road but merely crossing when the green man was flashing. This shows that he was obedient and has observed the traffic rules. As parents, we need to teach our kids from young about road safety and this I mean by example. My 3 boys take public transport to school on their own when they were about Pri 3. If I say that I didn’t worry, I’m lying. Having said that, I’ve been very confident that my boys are very careful on the road and would definitely use the pedestrian crossings. They have been taught to make sure that all the cars have stopped before crossing and not start doing so when the instance the green man flashes. They were even taught to stand as far away from the kerb as possible. I have no other choice then and don’t have to justify myself on this forum for not picking them up from school. Not all parents can afford to do that nor can they afford to employ a maid to do that. When they are older, by this I mean when they are in their teens, they try their luck by not using the crossings on some occasions but after getting a earful from me, they diligently use crossings. This has now developed into a habit. Some parents do take road safety for granted. I’m always stationed outside one of the gates after dismissal from the tuition centre. This gate is opposite the bus stop and we have told parents not to use this gate if they intend to cross the road. Instead, they have to use another gate which is at the traffic lights but further from the bus stop. Our advice always fall on deaf ears. The parents always give me a "you don’t have to tell me what to do and I’m confident that I’ll bring my children safely across" look. Yet, there’s about an accident every year and the parents were with their children. Once, I witnessed a mother crossing the road with 2 of her young charges who were about 4 or 5 years old running after her. I was so shocked that I didn’t know how to react. I wanted to shout for them to stop but was afraid that if I did I might make matter worse. At half way, the children got cold feet and started to turn back. A few cars were fast approaching and fortunately the drivers were alert and slowed down while sounding their horns. Worse, the mother chided her children for not following her and turned back. As a witness, I’ll definitely faint if the children were hit. Even with parents or other adults around, we can’t guarantee accidents won’t happen. All it takes is a slip in concentration by the driver. I had witnessed a driver colliding with a car in front of him which had stopped at the traffic lights. I was crossing and the green man was flashing. If there was no car stationary at the traffic lights, I might be the one who was hit and I had almost reached the other side where the car was coming from. It could happen to anyone, children or adult. Schools can only do that much. It’s surprising that there is no road humps or any PV or teachers at the junction to ensure that the children are safe to a certain degree. However, we also can’t blame them if they are there and accidents happen. Do you expect the PV to stop a moving vehicle if it careens into a child? Educating our children about road safety is the most important factor here. No amount of safety precaution can prevent an accident but can reduce the risks. Knowing children, they can be playful and this accident can be a useful tool for all parents and schools to emphasize road safety. I’ve seen secondary school children playing on the road and called up the school concerned. When a teacher is stationed outside the school, the children simply moved somewhere further from the teacher’s view to continue their mischief. When all else fails, there’s nobody to blame.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:27:37 GMT

MMM — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:27:37 GMT

vicki - I appreciate where you are coming from. Eg. the specific blame on the school. Maybe the parents are finger pointing so as to make themselves feel better :? given that they just lost a son. I don't want to judge on that. Separately, sometimes I feel that it's fate as well if things of such were to happen. The child and driver just happen to be there at the wrong place and the wrong time. Of course, i am not saying that we leave everything to fate.

Just as I shared in earlier post, my kids' school deploy auntie and uncle to look after traffic at the traffic lights during dismissal hours. Definitely not teachers as I think their time should be spent elsewhere and I think it's unfair for parents to place too much responsibility on teachers too. But having PV, auntie/ uncle to keep a lookout during dismissal hour to me is something do-able and practical. This is potentially something that the school can do on their part. Of course, we cannot expect them to be there from 6.30am - 7pm as I think this is also not realistic. Maybe such support need to be around during peak hour.

Atrecord,

Dh always tell the kids that he started taking a bus from bedok to hougang all by himself when he was P1. Many a times, dh also has to worry about ringing the bus alarm (the alarm used to be at the ceiling and not child/ short people friendly). But luckily for him, he is alighting at a popular stop.

Our kids P4 and P5 started coming back by themselves this year. We are like 12 bus stops/ 30 mins away from school and there are some roads/ car parks to cross. We started to let go alittle last year. It was not easy.... we would worry about them crossing the carparks from school to bus stop. We would also worry about them being \"kidnapped\" (eg. read/ heard about scams where people get calls for this) or for girls \"molested\". Frankly, there are alot of concerns and yes, it's been 2 weeks since school reopen and we've not fully let go.

I agree that drivers must be careful. But we also encounter some parents letting kids who look like pre-schoolers cross road on their own. As kids of that age are small, sometimes car might not be able to see them well if they are blocked. Also, drivers must be patient. Sometimes the car infront of you stopped for a valid reason. Eg. waiting for a child/ old person to cross the road, don't attempt to overtake.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:26:34 GMT

jedamum — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:26:34 GMT

vicki:

N the mother is a hsewife (per yesterday new paper) so if they are really worried abt safety, they will work somethg out to fit in the 'fetching' of kids to n from.

i am a housewife and had initially looking forward to my P4 boy being a bit independent and walk home by himself after school. but he has to cross 2 unmanned sch gates of the secondary sch beside his sch, 2 traffic lights and one small road (with no traffic lights/zebra crossing), beside a carpark. with this news, think i'll have to shelf this idea for now.
condolences to the family of the victim.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:16:32 GMT

carebear — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:16:32 GMT

vicki:

Hi carebear,

Im not exactly sure what the issue is with the green man light flashing, or green man or red man.

No 1:
I feel that that the driver is at fault for not keeping a lookout irregardless of the above. So the flashing green man is irrelevant to this discussion. I can also understand if the parents 'blame' the driver - cos it would be a natural reaction when such an incident occurs.

My point of this discussion stems from this portion of the news:-

\"The parents of a young boy killed in a car accident outside his school last Friday want answers.

They want the school to explain why there was no teacher watching the children crossing the road after school had finished.\"

Which led to my point of: \"Current day parent mentality: Blame the whole world except themselves when things are not right! What are we teaching the nex generation?\"

You are correct - even if the parent is around - the boy can still get killed if he was walking a few steps ahead - so that leads to:
\"Why are they asking the school to eplain why 'no teacher' is around\"?

Will the whole accident be prevented even with the teacher around? Or is it that - they can apportion blame to THAT teacher if there was someone around and the unfortunate accident happened? And if that teacher is around n thus the accident can be prevented (ie, a preventable accident), then if the boy's parent was around - it could also be prevented rite?

My point hence is that i feel that the parents should always qn themselves first before blaming the whole world when something happens.

Its always a \"Not my fault - its his fault\" mentality.

I guess if the news report had not had that line in - then my tots might have been different.

But at the moment, what im reading is: \"School - u explain why this happened - why no teacher around?\"

This is just my tot - and everyone would have a different views on this as well. In any case, this is a discussion forum rite?

Notwithstanding the above, i do sympathise with the family as i feel it is very heartbreaking to lose a kid this way. I do sincerely wish the family well.

Hi vicki, this, i agree with you.
Now, the main thing is for the school or the relevant authority to implement safety measures to minimize the possibilty of a recurrence of such a tragic incident.

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:23:12 GMT

atrecord — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:23:12 GMT

This is really tragic.

I started walking to sch in P4, which was a morning session, many yrs back. The ~2 km journey took 25-30 min and involved crossing 4 roads, 2 of which has quite heavy traffic for a road within a housing estate. Cars were fewer during those days, speed was slower and perhaps drivers not as reckless then. Still I doubt I’ll let my kids do that now, although i’ll like them to be independent.

I guess many parents will feel the same way, in that while we think being able to cross the roads is something that our kids should be able to do on their own by a certain age, the protective nature of us (after reading so many of those tragic cases, many of which could not be avoided despite taking great care) means we defer doing this earlier.

The driver is obviously at fault big time, and must face the consequences (which surprisingly is not going to be v harsh, given it’s an accident).

The parents will feel what-ifs… but it is too late, and they must cope with the loss.

sigh…

Reply to School boy killed outside school gate on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:07:58 GMT

vicki — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:07:58 GMT

carebear:

Even if parents follow, what could they have done?
If the boy walk a few steps ahead of the parent, it could also have happened.
Anyway, it is not unusual for kids of his age to walk to and fro school alone, especially if the school is near the house.
Oh vicki....so housewife must always fetch their kids? :?

Btw, the green light flashing- i assume it is the green man flashing?

Hi carebear,

Im not exactly sure what the issue is with the green man light flashing, or green man or red man.

No 1:
I feel that that the driver is at fault for not keeping a lookout irregardless of the above. So the flashing green man is irrelevant to this discussion. I can also understand if the parents 'blame' the driver - cos it would be a natural reaction when such an incident occurs.

My point of this discussion stems from this portion of the news:-

\"The parents of a young boy killed in a car accident outside his school last Friday want answers.

They want the school to explain why there was no teacher watching the children crossing the road after school had finished.\"

Which led to my point of: \"Current day parent mentality: Blame the whole world except themselves when things are not right! What are we teaching the nex generation?\"

You are correct - even if the parent is around - the boy can still get killed if he was walking a few steps ahead - so that leads to:
\"Why are they asking the school to eplain why 'no teacher' is around\"?

Will the whole accident be prevented even with the teacher around? Or is it that - they can apportion blame to THAT teacher if there was someone around and the unfortunate accident happened? And if that teacher is around n thus the accident can be prevented (ie, a preventable accident), then if the boy's parent was around - it could also be prevented rite?

My point hence is that i feel that the parents should always qn themselves first before blaming the whole world when something happens.

Its always a \"Not my fault - its his fault\" mentality.

I guess if the news report had not had that line in - then my tots might have been different.

But at the moment, what im reading is: \"School - u explain why this happened - why no teacher around?\"

This is just my tot - and everyone would have a different views on this as well. In any case, this is a discussion forum rite?

Notwithstanding the above, i do sympathise with the family as i feel it is very heartbreaking to lose a kid this way. I do sincerely wish the family well.