my first commentary.

When a prefect sets rules & enforces them, students cannot be in direct defiance. When a student sets the rules, will it be the other way round? Not necessarily. Indeed, if we can find it within us to allow the student body to set the rules for us, it could turn out to be a step forward.

People often say that rules must be strict, rules must be enforced; otherwise, we'll have a school descending into chaos and disorder. But here's the problem: a lot of the rules that exist don't fall into this "must have" category; for instance, my earlier example about defiance. Instead there exist many rules which fall into the gray area, and questions over their importance will definitely exist. I say that when they do fall into this area, we let the students decide, simply because there is no better judge of these rules than students themselves.

After all, we entrust our students with plenty of things. We tell them to vote for "The Dynamic Duo" or "Peter PANG" based on how much we trust these prefectorial candidates. We bring them overseas to be the face of our school, so why not let them set it along its course? To judge whether an act is unacceptable enough to warrant a rule banning it is a show of responsibility within the capabilities of our students. It's just ridiculous to believe that rational students (as most are) cannot be reasonable enough to make intelligent, justified decisions. All the more so when you consider how the student body is led by the CEC Council, so no worries there.

Instead it is fairer to believe that students only become more responsible when it is thrust upon them. We want our leaders to have a say in running the school as much as our prefects, simply because the CEC Council is as much a representation of the student body as the RIPB. To be fair, there should not be an artificial and arbitrary distinction between the two based on the relative power that one has been accorded. In fact, if I may be so bold as to introduce some jargon here, as the judiciary the prefects should have no say in creating the law and the rule, but surrender that power to the students. Principally as much as anything, both the prefects and student leaders should serve different, contrasting purposes in the school, and the duty of crafting the regulation must fall to the masses.

“If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders.” (Abigail van Buren) If anything, remember this line, for it is the essence of what the concept of allowing students to write the rule dictates. It dictates that our students can take up this responsibility, and that they should. Perhaps it is time that you see so too.