George Lam
KUCHING (Oct 15): The recent fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old student by a 14-year old schoolmate in Selangor has ignited urgent concerns over the critical communication gap between schools and parents.
In response, the Democratic Action Party Socialist Youth (Dapsy) Sarawak is calling for a stronger collaborative effort to safeguard students’ emotional and mental well-being.
Dapsy Sarawak Secretary George Lam said this tragedy is a stark reflection of a collective failure by society, schools, and families to nurture the emotional health of the youth.
“This heartbreaking incident shows how the absence of coordinated guidance between the Ministry of Education (MoE) and parents has led to the neglect of children’s emotional and mental development, with devastating consequences,” Lam said in a statement.
He highlighted this case is at least the fifth serious school-related tragedy this year, following a shocking student death in Sabah, two cases of primary school pupils found dead on school grounds in Peninsular Malaysia, and a gang rape case involving secondary students in Melaka.
“These are tragedies that should never have happened, yet they continue to occur in spaces that are supposed to be safe for our children to learn and grow,” he lamented.
Lam warned that the surge in such alarming incidents has understandably created societal anxiety and distress, with parents now questioning whether schools remain a safe environment for their children.
He pointed to a system where schools have become centres of academic pressure rather than emotional growth, while parents, overwhelmed by work and daily demands, have increasingly delegated educational and emotional responsibilities to institutions.
“After school, children are often sent to tuition centres, and by the time they return home, they are still occupied with homework — leaving parents with little to no time to communicate with their children or understand their emotional well-being,” he explained.
He also cited the unsupervised exposure to smartphones and the internet from a young age, which can expose children to harmful content that distorts their understanding of relationships and validation.
“Some children, after being deprived of sufficient attention, may even develop the misconception that committing extreme acts is the only way to gain notice or validation,” he cautioned.
Lam urged parents to play a more active role, emphasising that engagement should extend beyond academics.
“Parents should still take time to engage their children; even simple conversations during daily school drop-offs and pick-ups can help them better understand their child’s emotional state,” he advised.
“For introverted children, parents must take gentle and patient steps to encourage them to open up.”
He also called on the MoE to strengthen its framework for parent–school engagement, noting that current communication is often limited to academic matters.
“It is time for the Ministry to establish a more holistic framework that promotes regular and structured communication between schools and parents, to jointly monitor and support students’ overall well-being, not just their grades,” he asserted.
Lam stressed that emotional education and mental health support must be treated as integral components of the national education system.
“Children are the future of our society; every tragedy should serve as a painful reminder for reflection.
“Only through a stronger partnership between families and the education system can we prevent similar tragedies and restore our schools as truly safe havens for our children to grow and learn,” he concluded.
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