The old school blues

Sun, 02/08/2009 11:24 AM  |  On the Town

You're stupid! You're dirty and disgusting!" These words came from the mouth of a little 6-year-old boy at a south Jakarta sushi restaurant. He was throwing a fit at a waitress, continuing the rude complaints made by his parents about a piece of hair in their son's drink.

The waitress quickly replaced it with a fresh glass - this time hairless - and a complementary ice cream. But the boy wouldn't stop there. Yelling loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear, the boy said, "I don't want that ice cream! It's dirty because you've touched it! You should be fired!"

The mother calmly asked the boy to sit down and said coldly to the waitress: "Take it back; he doesn't want it." The waitress forced a smile, but everyone could see a trail of tears down her cheek as she walked back to the kitchen with a tray of rejected ice cream. All because of a piece of hair that probably wasn't even hers.

Being the good ignorant Jakartan that I am, I tried to stay out of it, but someone else decided to take the role of a vain defender. A young woman stood up to the brat's parents and said: "You should put your dirty-mouthed child in school!"

Our heroine failed to notice that the little potty-mouthed child had indeed been in school. Under his branded jacket, he was wearing a school uniform that I recognized to be the uniform of a prestigious private school.

Don't bother asking about the tuition fees of that certain institution, or other equally prominent ones. The cost of education in this city is one of the reasons why some fathers take bribes.

Add to that the fact that some schools require you to pay an enrollment fee, years before the child is ready to actually be in school. You have to start browsing for elementary school when your child is merely two months old if you want to get into the good ones.

What are the criteria of a good school in Jakarta anyway? Big buildings with all kinds of facilities, a progressive curriculum, English-speaking teachers and a household name. Well, the school that little monster goes to has all of the above and look how he turned out.

Alia, a second grade teacher at a famous international school, said wearily that what I saw at that sushi joint is something she has to deal with everyday. Sadly, some parents are not concerned about bad behavior. They think they're getting their money's worth if their kids can speak fluent English at age 7.

Alia explained that the institution that she works for employs several child psychologists with a regular counseling schedule. Even the teachers are required to go on child psychology workshops. But in the end, they focus more on the academic side, preparing students for a good college in 10 years' time.

Alia also thinks that it's premature for her second grade students to be carrying laptops, but the parents think it's necessary.

Meanwhile, Iyan, a good friend of mine, pulled out his 9-year-old son from public school last year and decided to try homeschooling. "The teacher slapped my son's face for asking a valid question about faith. He wasn't badly hurt but I don't want him to get an education from that kind of people."

It wasn't the first time his family have had this kind of problem. Their eldest daughter, who went to a different public school, was emotionally bullied by a teacher for a whole year because of something she said that was considered disobedient.

"The public schools don't encourage children to be opinionated and critical. And they think because these children's parents are not influential, they can do whatever they want," Iyan explained.

It's a tricky ordeal - picking schools that are fit for your children. Don't let me discourage you, because among the pricey robot factories and worn-out teachers, many of the good ones still thrive. You just have to make a smart choice for your child's sake.

-- Kartika Jahja

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