Thursday, September 29, 2005 - irony. : WHAT THE MONKEY IS GOING ON???

as usual, the blogger tool bar has just gone bonkers -again-. ah well.

in case you didn't know, there is a HUGE uproar over blogging.

over the act of blogging you say?

nay... its over students who post derogatory remarks bout their teachers on their blog...

there has been much debate over this issue in the blogging community (mostly the singapore blogging community) and there are mainly TWO factions.

1. The pro-students, i.e., people who support the students who kena punished and fervently believe that they have the right to post what they want, how they want.

2. The 'others', who support the stand that bloggers DO NOT have the right to post what they want and that the blog is NOT private space.

which faction do i belong to?

the 2ND faction.

now, before you throw stone me to death, let me explain why i support the 2nd view.

firstly, lets face it. the blog is NOT private space. there are no physical boundaries in a virtual world. what is private? if you owe a piece of land, that land is YOURS and you have the right to allow people into it or not. now if you DON'T allow other people on it, then you have PRIVACY.

but the fact of the matter is, nobody can OWN a website. in the first place, it's called the WORLD WIDE WEB. EVERBODY can read what you type without needing to ask for your permission.

secondly, many people say that the teachers deserve it. well, just because they are evil witches or what not DOES NOT justify our insulting and defaming them. some say this is freedom of speech. if this is freedom of speech, then i can, FOR EXAMPLE... stand in the Padang and rant about how our government just pays lip service and never means what they say. but that is NOT freedom of speech.

freedom of speech should carry with it a degree of self-censorship. if speaking our mind is freedom of speech, then it will just degenerate into us flicking verbal daggers at each other.

personally, i feel that students should admit that its WRONG to defame or insult your teachers, no matter how evil they are. i have had my share of teachers who practically have the words "KICK ME TO THE MOON!!!" stamped on their faces, owing to the fact that they are either biased or just evil. us students damning them to hell just lowers us down to their level. if your teacher maligns you, then just suck it in and MOVE ON.

later in life, you're going to get backstabbed, gossiped about, framed and what not, are you going to exercise your "freedom of speech" and curse them to a pulp? i think its time that students just move on with their lives regardless of the kind of treatment they get from their teachers.

Life is too short to bother ourselves with people who don't deserve our time (or saliva for that matter).

on the other hand, i do agree with some people who side with the first view.

i mean, SERIOUSLY.

are the comments of a bunch of teenagers going to ruin your life as a teacher?

HELLO...

wake up and SMELL the coffee people... teenagers are exactly what they are. TEENAGERS. who cares about what a teenager say??? its like an someone fussing over how their resident cockroach looks at them while they bake their cake.

are the comments of a bunch of hormone-charged teenagers going to affect your job prospect?

do we students pay school fees to get lynched?

as i posted before, why is it ok for teachers to treat students like dirt?

why is it ok for teachers to call students brats?

IS IT BECAUSE THEY ARE TEACHERS?

if teachers don't respect students, how can they, by virtue of COMMON SENSE, expect to be respected?

if teachers themselves don't conduct themselves in a manner that is befitting of respect, then they should not expect any at all. even if students do respect, its all a charade.

teachers SHOULD NOT expect to be respected just because they are teachers.

but anyhow, lets move on with our lives as students and accept the fact that the witchhunt will not end. the blog is not a place where one can rant about other people; never was and never will be.

and teachers should just stop being so petty and begin to act like the adults they are.

period.

C.K blogged at 7:19 AM