Death of a boy: Did the school do just right, or not enough?

by Hamzah Omar Yaacob

HOW should a school handle cases that involve the police speaking to students at the school? This has been a central question throughout the controversial death of 14-year-old Benjamin Lim, coming up again over the past two days in the Coroner’s Inquiry that began on Tuesday. The coroner isn’t supposed to establish guilt or innocence on anyone’s part, but to ascertain how Benjamin died. Parents, nonetheless, would be keeping a keen eye on how schools discharge their duty of care to students.

Earlier this year, Acting Minister for Education (Schools) Ng Chee Meng gave some insight into what schools are supposed to do. Here’s a link to the eight-step guidelines he raised in Parliament in March this year. Over the past two days, North View Secondary School’s principal Mr Chen Fook Pang and school counsellor Madam Karry Lung have given their sides of the story. How did their actions measure up against the guidelines?

Guideline 1. School staff will be discreet when bringing the student to meet with the police.

What the school did: The discipline mistress, Ms Steff Chan found Benjamin in the school canteen and took him to the principal’s office. In opening statements from the Attorney-General’s Chamber on Tuesday, she found him alone having a bun and a drink, and was sure that no students were around at the time.

The plainclothes policemen, who had been directed to wait in the school canteen, saw Ms Chan approach Benjamin. Under questioning by Benjamin’s family’s lawyer, Mr Choo Zheng Xi, Inspector Poh Wee Teck told the court that the policemen made no contact with him then.

About this point: Much has been made about the way Benjamin was told about police wanting to speak to him. Some points have already been clarified earlier, such as how the five policemen were in plain-clothes and were in unmarked cars. But there were still questions about whether his schoolmates knew about what was happening. A parent had told The Online Citizen (TOC) that it was well known that someone was in trouble. Benjamin’s father had complained about how his son was not allowed to finish his food in the canteen before being brought to the principal’s office. The sudden presence of Ms Chan in the canteen also suggested the school could have been more discreet, he said.

Guideline 2. School leaders will ascertain the student’s physical and emotional well-being before the police are allowed to interview the student.

What the school did: Mr Chen told the court on Tuesday that he requested to speak to Benjamin privately before the police questioned Benjamin. It’s unclear whether they had discussed his state of physical and emotional well-being. School counsellor Madam Lung was not present at this time, and was only called in later once the interview had started.

Madam Lung was asked by Mr Choo if she knew of Benjamin’s primary school records, which had indicated he had suffered from an emotional disorder and went through counselling. She replied that she had never counselled Benjamin before and was not aware of his prior records. She said: “I could clearly remember that two years ago, when he was in Secondary 1, his name was not on the list of students I was supposed to follow-up [with].” This was because his case in primary school had been closed, as she later found out when checking his records, she told the court. 

She also said that her primary responsibility during the interview was to “assist investigations” and “observe his emotions”. The school will form a case management team or “care team” during incidents like Benjamin’s, consisting of various school leaders, added Madam Lung. But this did not happen in Benjamin’s case – possibly because of the short notice the school had once the police arrived. However, Madam Lung told the court she had a meeting with heads of department to discuss “how the child is doing” sometime after the interview.

About this point: Was Benjamin shocked at the police approach or was he emotionally stable enough to go through a police interview? Madam Lung told the court yesterday that she felt Benjamin had exhibited a “certain degree of stress” during the interview, whereas on Tuesday she had said Benjamin appeared to be fine.

The question of Benjamin’s state of physical and emotional well-being is part of a larger discussion about whether Appropriate Adults should be in the room in order to protect the young person’s rights when they are interviewed by the police. Benjamin’s mother had asked if she could see her son while he was still at the school, but was told no. By the time she saw him at the police station, the police had already finished interviewing him.

Madam Lung said she had never been asked to attend police interviews at the station in her experience as a counsellor, in response to questions from Mr Choo. (P.S. Mr Ng said in Parliament said that these guidelines were being reviewed, in particular, whether school staff or Appropriate Adults should be present when minors are interviewed by the police.) 

Guideline 3. School leaders will request to be present and that the number of police officers kept to a minimum during the interview.

What the school did: Principal Chen asked for just one policeman to question Benjamin before school staff. On Tuesday, he told the court that he thought five policemen were too many, and added that he thought he was “pushing [his] luck a bit further” when he requested that school staff sit in.

In the end, only Inspector Poh spoke to Benjamin, in front of four school staff, including Mr Chen and Madam Lung. The school staff remained in the room when Benjamin called his mother to inform her that he had to be brought to Ang Mo Kio Police Division. Mr Choo asked Madam Lung if she had at any point intervened to suggest that Benjamin speak to his mother on the phone privately. Madam Lung said no.

About this point: Again it had to do with whether Benjamin had enough support from the school or was overwhelmed or intimidated by the presence of policemen.

Guideline 4. The school should request the police to inform the student’s parents that the student is required to go to the police station for further questioning, inform them of the situation, and the location of the police station.

What the school did: Inspector Poh said that Principal Chen requested Benjamin to call his mother. It appears that Inspector Poh contacted her first, as he told the court that he had passed the phone to Benjamin after his mother had requested to speak to him. During his conversation with her, Inspector Poh said that he had to bring her son to Ang Mo Kio Police Division to investigate a suspected outrage of modesty case, and that the police station was near Yio Chu Kang MRT. He also told the court that he noticed Benjamin was holding the phone “very tightly”.  

About this point: It has to do with whether the parents were kept in the loop about what was happening. Benjamin’s mother told TOC that the call with her son had been abruptly ended before she could finish. According to Madam Lung on Tuesday, she had signalled to Benjamin to end the call after hearing a loud voice on the line. Benjamin subsequently hung up.

In court yesterday, this point took on another angle. Madam Lung had said that Benjamin showed signs of stress while talking to his mother, which became a point of contention with Mr Choo. He said that it would be “upsetting” to Benjamin’s parents if she attributed his stress to the conversation. Madam Lung responded that she could not hear what his mother was saying.

 

 

Guideline 5. The school will ensure the student has something to eat before leaving for the police station, and will request that the student leaves in a discreet manner without being handcuffed. 

What the school did: Benjamin was allowed to finish the bun and the drink he had earlier bought from the canteen, said Inspector Poh. Benjamin also left with three plainclothes police officers in an unmarked car, and was not handcuffed. There were no student or staff members around to see him leave with the officers. Whether the school had requested this remains unclear.

About this point: It relates to whether the school had been callous in its treatment of Benjamin. Benjamin’s father expressed disappointment that his son was not allowed to finish a cold bun and drink in the canteen prior to attending the interview in the principal’s office. He only finished his food afterwards before being brought to Ang Mo Kio Police Division. 

Guideline 6. After the student is released from the police, the school will keep in contact with the students’ parents to render support, and to work out any follow-up steps to look after the well-being of the student.

What the school did: Madam Lung told the court that she called Benjamin’s mother after he had been released, to find out if he was “okay”. She then brought up a school camp which Benjamin was to attend a few days later, and suggested that he remain at home. The whole call lasted “two to four minutes”.  

What the parents said: Mr Choo said that  the school called to inform the family of its decision for Benjamin not to attend the camp and participate in E-learning.

About this point: Madam Lung said she raised the camp only as a “suggestion” that Benjamin stay at home, whereas Benjamin’s parents say the decision was already set in stone. It was quite shortly after this phone call that Benjamin fell to his death from his bedroom window on Jan 26.

There are two other guidelines which are not applicable here, given Benjamin’s death: That the school monitor the student once he or she returns from the police, and will keep the case confidential while investigations are ongoing.

Through the entire episode, was Benjamin aware of the consequences for admitting to molesting the 11 year-old schoolgirl on Jan 25? Senior Investigation Officer (SIO) Mohammad Fareed Rahmat who had interviewed Benjamin at the police station told the court yesterday that he “usually explains to the parents” the consequences for cases involving youth. He said on the stand that it would have been a warning, probation or a court hearing in Benjamin’s case. Because Benjamin’s mother preferred to speak in Mandarin, he asked another officer to attend to her and assumed he would explain, he said.

The inquiry was adjourned at the this point. The parties are to meet again on June 8. It would be interesting to have the mother on the stand to hear her side of the story. So far, the witnesses are from the school and police. Perhaps, that will happen next month.

 

Featured Image by Natassya Diana. 

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The post Death of a boy: Did the school do just right, or not enough? appeared first on The Middle Ground.

- Hamzah Omar Yaacob