Man finds scratch marks on daughter's arms after school, calls out bus attendant for not informing him

One father was left in shock after his daughter came back from school with scratch marks.

After taking to social media to air his grievances, several netizens asked this father Joel Chen to exercise restraint by not going after the other party. 

In a Facebook post shared on Thursday (Jan 4), Chen said that his 12-year-old daughter's arms were scratched by another student on the school bus.

"I had to find out about it myself because my daughter is in a special education school and she doesn't know how to tell me what had happened," he said.

Chen also blamed the bus attendant for not telling him about the incident, while threatening the perpetrator with "three chances".

He did not name the school in his post.

In the comments, several netizens expressed their sympathies towards Chen's daughter after the bullying incident.

Others also warned Chen from seeking justice on his own.

"Speak to the school. Fighting won't resolve anything," one netizen said, adding that the one who attacked Chen's daughter is also likely to be a student with special needs.

"Talk to her teacher to find out more, that way also alert the school to keep watch," another said.

A netizen said that as a parent of a son with autism spectrum disorder, she understands that clashes involving children with special needs "will often happen". 

"He takes school bus every day and sometimes other kids hurt him but I never blame the kids. Because they are all special needs, some kids are not able to talk," she said.

"Sometimes my son also melts down inside the bus and hurt other kids. All we need is more love and understanding, and I think you should know this better than anyone."

Taking to Facebook on Friday (Jan 5), Chen said that the issue has been resolved.

He added his anger that day has led him to post remarks on social media that he "shouldn't have written".

Chen said: "My daughter was bullied by her classmates when she was a child. I asked her what was wrong but she couldn't express it.

"My daughter is a very timid and scared person. It is actually very hard and sad to take care of a child who cannot express herself, but I will try my best to listen to what she wants."

AsiaOne has contacted Chen for more information.

When a parent took school bullying into his own hands

Last September, the principal of a tuition centre in Yishun called the police after a parent caused a ruckus by hurling vulgarities at the security officer.

CCTV footage shared with AsiaOne showed the parent, named Roy Cheong Teng, sitting on a stool next to the main entrance of the tuition centre while blocking other students from entering and leaving.

Cheong Teng later told AsiaOne that he decided to do so after finding out his daughters were bullied by another student in the tuition centre.

Describing how the incident left one of his daughters in tears, he added that the principal "did not want to take any form of responsibility".

ALSO READ: 9 steps to help your child deal with bullies

chingshijie@asiaone.com