SINGAPORE
School CP - January 2008

2 students caught taking 'upskirt' pics of teacher

By Veena Bharwani

TWO 14-year-old boys tried to take upskirt photos of their female teacher last week.

They were caught when many of their classmates, who witnessed the incident, approached the teacher in question and told her what happened.

The result: The two boys will be publicly caned.

The teacher made a police report last Thursday.

This is not the first time that such an incident has happened in the boys' school, located in the North-East.

Last year, two other boys were publicly caned for taking upskirt pictures of another teacher with their handphones.

Regarding last week's incident, the school principal told My Paper: "We confiscated the boys' phones and found no evidence on them.

"They tried to take pictures but failed. Nevertheless, they will be caned publicly."

The boys confessed that they did attempt to take the picture.

She added: "We always advise our teachers that since they are teaching in a boys' school, they must be careful.

"They are also advised against sitting on tables if they are wearing skirts."

However, she said, as most handphones now come with cameras, the problem has become more complex.

She said: "There is the problem of them forwarding the obscene pictures to their friends."

To counter this, the school has banned the use of handphones in classrooms.

She added: "If they are caught, we will confiscate their handphones.

"And if we find pornographic or upskirt pictures in the phone, we will hand them over to the police."

She added that she does not tell her teachers not to wear skirts because it gives the wrong impression that the teacher is at fault.

She said: "This suggests that it's their (the teachers') dressing that provokes the boys to take the pictures and this is wrong."

The police confirmed that a report has been filed and are investigating the matter.