Dear Editor, WHILE caught in traffic on my way home in Petaling Jaya, I noticed two primary school children waiting alone outside a side entrance to their school.

School was out and I could only assume that their ride, be it a parent, driver or bus, was late in fetching the them.

That was not what irked me. It is understandable that who ever was responsible for fetching them was probably stuck in the same massive traffic congestion, as I was.

What annoyed me was the fact that the children were left to wait by the sidewalk on their own and without any supervision.

When parents send their children to school, they are en trusting the safety and well being of their offspring to the school.

The school authorities and staff must bear the burden of looking after the children in their care.

They must not shirk this responsibility and leave the children to their own devices, even after school hours.

Various cases of children being abducted while being left alone should serve as a lesson to others to be more cautious when it comes to the lives of children under adult care.

Why were these two children left waiting alone?

The school should ensure that parents pick up their children in an open and supervised area and that students are not allowed to wait alone elsewhere.

A teacher or security guard should have been stationed at every entrance to monitor the children daily, and only leave once all the students have gone home.

It would have been easy for someone to drive by and lure the children into their car and drive off.

When I was in kindergarten, apart from the security guard, a teacher would always supervise students going home by bus and those waiting for their parents.

I hope that schools, from kindergarten to primary and high school, would adopt such practices for the sake of the children.

It is time Malaysians realise that nothing can be taken for granted. We must dismiss the ‘it will never happen to me’ attitude.

Children will be children and even though you can teach them not to talk to strangers and pray that they will remember to do so, they do not know better and may be easily persuaded.

Schools must not forget their responsibility and play the role of parent and guardian when the occasion calls for it.

Passer-by
Kuala Lumpur

Source: Malay Mail – January 29, 2008