Our kids were given a high weightage if they want DSA or not. DSA wasn’t in our minds when DD was still in primary school. At that time, it was only a simple decision because she didn’t want to be tied down to a particular area she had achievement on. So we said ok, without even checking out what DSA required etc. After that, the same question popped up for DS and based on the turn of events, we took a closer look and with it, any other observations we would have seen. Coincidentally and recently, DS came to the same conclusion, not to go for DSA with the same reasoning as DD. In other words, this can be considered the first time we witness how intense possibly DSA selections could be. No wonder the reactions were so different from my other posts.

I will keep the reply short. Someone else from another school was at the receiving end but I think it should be time to move on whether it’s Sec 1 or not, shouldn’t it ? Yes, the kid is considering DSA but DSA and actual application are 2 things.

Quite sure the responses were well-meaning (I may not agree with the views), but I was told that there are times when kids have moved on, yet not adults…Frankly, I was caught by surprise by the replies this morning (maybe it’s the topic). I posted other observations for other topics on the website with lesser details and didn’t invite the strong reactions to similar levels.

ok, ok.

When I first posted the message, my first point was around unintended side effects of the DSA. I am in agreement that there’s a difference between taunting and poor sportsmanship. Yes, I also agree that thinking about rules and structure cannot be the responsibility of others. It gets interesting if the rule/ structure is only given on the spot, without sufficient deliberation on loopholes involving ethics :-). So like I said, we are back to imperfect systems.

I understand that not everyone shares the same views. Where one’s response to loopholes calls the individual’s ethics to question, I ask my kids what they will do. Sometimes that line between responding in an ethical vs unethical way means winning or losing, and I tell my kids it’s ok to lose as long as they do not cross the line to something unethical or leave their names tainted.

But after the brief exchange this morning in the forum, I reflected somewhat from a different point of view. I will also ask what if my kids were to be in some level of authority for such games e.g. organiser one day.
I want them to recognise how things have gone wrong and how they can be treated as learning points. So DSA or not, I want them to understand this value.

Yes Imp75, you are right. I am implying a lack of sportsmanship. Even though your explanation was short, you helped me to understand your stance slightly better. If you have substantial vested interests or interests on behalf of someone else, then we will see how to proceed. Disclosing what sport/ who decides to embark on DSA before the DSA process finishes may not be straightforward for you, I think… (trying to see things from your view but let me know if my interpretation should be otherwise because you have not named the sport/(s) in the forum too


My original intent was only for readers to know that poor sportsmanship exists. In a general sense, it’s good for kids to be mentally prepared when such cases arise. In the end, we may probably have to ‘agree to disagree’ in some areas.
Not trying to be ‘mysterious’ or ‘sneaky’ but a forum like this is two-way in the sense that while anyone has the liberty to probe, it should not be imposed on the other party on the extent of details shared, the same reason I would not impose on you to name the sport/(s).

Imp75, again it’s not your problem but listing the sport without the contexts gives the impression that I don’t present an even-handed picture. If there is a sport of your concern, I’ll be glad to declare either way

Hi floppy,

1. If you win or when your competitor makes inadvertent blunders, do not hurl insults at your competitor. There is no need to do so.
2. There are imperfections in competition systems, and getting ahead by exploiting loopholes where ethics is a concern should not be even on the list of good sportsmanship.

I am not saying that other schools are clean, and my kids don’t come from neighbourhood schools either. However, many neighbourhood schools carry themselves better from my observation. Many times they did not win, but I was impressed and in my terms, full credits go to them.

Not referring to you, but in case anyone thinks the accusations are personal, there are people related to other schools seeing the same thing. Do you represent Rosyth or are related to them in any way ? If yes, we will have an exchange at our mutual convenience because words on a forum (not your problem nor mine) have limitations especially when intimate knowledge of contexts are involved. Alternatively, if the school thinks that the above 2 guidelines are not broken in the forum, engage me here.

Frankly, I suspect DSA has a risk of getting out of hand. A lot of us assume that DSA selection is purely based on candidates having the same or higher standards. I used to think that incidents could be isolated but from my recent years of observation, it seemed as if Rosyth has been exhibiting poor sportsmanship, including use of ‘underhand methods’ to get better results/ rankings. Not the kind of value a kid should be nurtured with.

Thanks zac’s mum,

I saw the sample pic you posted and the texts were not difficult to read.

Well I have a different problem. My child uses hp under strict conditions. She is now in Sec 1 and the school has just launched an initiative that students can use their hps to read current affairs and school articles during assembly periods. Those who don’t bring hps have the option to read a book. I understand the hp addiction problem and take it into consideration. But for now, I am weighing the pros and cons of either having my daughter read from a hp or read a book during assembly.

My reservations for her to use the hp stems from the fact that the hp screen is not big. To constantly read current affairs and school articles through it could mean she has to either swipe up and down, left and right or strain her eyes (consciously or unconsciously) to read the texts (not all texts viewed from hp are ‘big’ enough). Constantly swiping up and down, left and right to read texts doesn’t sound like a good reading process to me. I mean I don’t have to do this when I read a book. Is there someone who could advise from an experiential point of view (actually, ophthalmology view would be ideal!) whether constantly straining the eyes to read small texts, would have an effect on eyesight ? Thanks a lot.

Thanks Schootopia.