Social Justice on Singapore's Social Media: Not Helpful for Children?
Oct 09, 2025
In the book "Anxious Generation", the author Jonathan Haidt discussed how children are anti-fragile; they need exposure to disappointments, frustrations, and other emotions and learn how to navigate them. Having free play is also important to children; their mistakes are minor (not meant to be broadcasted for the internet to comment) and they can learn through any hurts caused by them or to them to reflect & restore relationships.
In Singapore, there seems to be a trend towards adults stepping in and sharing on social media what they deem is social justice, when in reality it could be misinformation that could hinder the restorative work that the school and families need to build with the affected children.
Let's give our children space to be children; let them learn to manage various emotions and situations, and inoculate them against bigger challenges that they will face as adults. Let's honour our children by not putting up or sharing such content especially when the video includes children. Let's do better as a society.
"Pupil A was identified in a TikTok video – which had been filmed by pupil B’s father – as having “punched” pupil B after stealing his wallet. Pupil A had indeed taken the other pupil’s wallet and snack.
Pupil B then got his friend, pupil C, to join him in chasing pupil A around the canteen, “during which student C accidentally hit student B’s lips with the wallet during the tussle”, said Mrs Pang.
She added that pupil A did not punch pupil B as alleged in the TikTok video, which had gone viral and amassed more than 32,000 likes since being posted on Oct 7.
In the video, which features a boy and a woman in what appears to be a hospital, a man is heard off camera saying that his son had his wallet and snack taken away from him by a schoolmate.
This schoolmate had also punched his son, said the man, with the roughly two-minute clip ending with a photo of his son’s bruised lips.
Said Mrs Pang: “The school will help the students learn from the incident and work towards a positive resolution of the matter.
“Meanwhile, the school is also in the process of engaging the parents of all students involved, to share what had transpired during the recess incident so that they can monitor their children’s well-being.”
