SINGAPORE - Several bullying incidents involving teens being slapped, punched and kicked at the ITE College Central campus are now under investigation.
This comes after multiple videos of the incidents surfaced on various social media platforms on Aug 2.
In videos posted on Facebook and seen by The Straits Times before they were taken down, a teenage boy is seen on his knees in a stairwell and surrounded by a group of about 10 other people. The boy is asked to kiss the shoes of a teenage girl, which he does.
He is then asked to kiss the girl's bare feet instead.
Someone is also heard yelling for the boy to "lick the ****ing shoe" as another teen suddenly kicks him in the head. Another teen then slaps him across the face.
In another video, a teenage boy wearing a khaki shirt is seen standing at the bottom of a stairwell, with a group of about 20 students looking down at him from the stairs above.
Another teenage boy wearing a cap is seen filming the scene and taunting the boy, asking him to "look up", referring to the crowd witnessing the moment. At least two other people are also seen filming the scene on their phones.
One teen then delivers two blows to the victim's head as the others cheer him on. In another video, which appears to be taken at the same time, the teen uses a blue object to hit him in the face.
The video later pans to show about five other teens who are also watching the scene play out.
In another video, a teenage boy is seen speaking to a group of people. Midway through, a teenage boy dressed in a black shirt delivers a high kick to his face. The victim falls backwards, and stays down.
ITE College Central principal Suresh Natarajan said the institute is aware of the videos on the bullying incidents at its campus and that investigations are ongoing.
He said: "As an educational institution, we strive to provide all our students with a safe, caring and supportive environment.
"The college takes a serious view on bullying and will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against students found in breach of our code of conduct."
He also urged students to report such incidents to their lecturers immediately.
"We will also reach out to the victims and their family members to extend our support," he said.
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A former ITE student, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Straits Times that he has seen such beatings on campus while he was still a first-year student in the school.
But these have been reduced after his college put a strong emphasis on having lecturers teach their students how to communicate better and to de-escalate tense situations, among other things.
"Usually, the victims themselves feel afraid to seek help and would take the beating because they themselves may or may not have caused the incident in the first place," said the former student, who graduated in April.
He added that the frequency of such bullying depends on the personalities in each batch of students, as well as how strict the lecturers in charge are.
"However, we still need to put pressure on the ITE Colleges to iron out such incidents. It is very saddening for me as an alumnus to see these incidents go viral due to social media as it lowers ITE's reputation as an educational institution," he said.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
