This is an instance where most parents will watch the video and say it’s fun gone too far. And to be honest, I was also slightly taken aback when I first watched the video of the ACJC girl who was ragged on her birthday, which has been drawing quite a lot of public attention.

Ex-ACS students have come out to defend their “school tradition” of ragging in the face of public criticism for being barbaric and elitist, and even the ACJC principal has not been sparred the flak for being too nonchalant about it.

But the whole debate seemed to have missed the point – that kids will act like kids, with or without their parents’ knowledge or consent. And now that technology has allowed us a glimpse of how some of our youth live, it’s really an opportunity for parents to better understand their children.

This episode reminded me of my own formative years as an ACS boy over a decade ago. Yes, there was (and apparently still is) a culture of ragging, but it was mainly reserved for the boys. Childish pranks like stripping off one’s clothes and leaving him outside the female toilet on his birthday, or giving someone a “wedgie” by lifting him a metre above the ground by his briefs until he admitted he fancied a particular girl were not uncommon. The strange part? We came to accept it as a rite of passage – and some would even brag about it for years as to whose ragging experience was worse or who was the kid bright enough to mastermind it all.

The only thing that prevented all this buffoonery from coming under public scrutiny was that, of course, the camera/video phone had not been invented and the Internet was still in its infancy. (Bet my parents and my friend’s parents would not have been too pleased if they saw us running around naked like monkeys in the school yard.)

Now that technology has allowed us insight into the lives of youth, I think it’s time to tarry a little on passing moral judgement as “mature” adults and take a step to appreciate how technology has given parents and educators a definite edge.

The MH Blog is updated every Tuesday. Got something to say to the MH Editorial Bloggers? E-mail us at magmenshealth@sph.com.sg or contact me at sherwinc@sph.com.sg.