%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |  This is my blog & my hope, writing daily will help me see my progress and log supporters. |
| Nada has a seventeen-year-old son who goes to a private school in Chonburi, Eastern Thailand. He lives alone in a small apartment near his school. When we visited him a month ago and I saw his living conditions, I felt sorry for him. He has a fridge, cooks on a gas burner outside on his patio and sleeps on a mattress on the floor. He also has a laptop. His school is very different from many schools in the West. Most senior students come from other parts of Thailand and live alone in boarding houses (small rooms in highrise buildings). The school provides breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria. The food is cheap and healthy. They grow vegetables at the school, and the students are expected to help tend the gardens. Truancy is not tolerated and the school provides Nada with daily updates on attendance. She can also log on to their website to check the number of days her son is late. If kids do not perform to a set academic standard, they are made to re-sit exams at an extra cost to their parents. Any students caught smoking on school grounds are given a stern warning. Alcohol and other drugs are not tolerated. Repeat offenders are sent to a special class called the Student Development Division. Methamphetamines are so rampant in Thailand that every student over the age of fifteen must provide a urine sample on request. Anyone who tests positive is ordered into treatment, which is provided at the school. From what I can gather (due to the language barrier), many kids ride motorbikes to and from school. None (or at least, very few) have a licence, although they are made to wear helmets. Wearing proper uniforms is mandatory. Strangely enough (considering Muay Thai is Thailand's national sport...or perhaps, because of it), fights between students are virtually unheard of. Suspensions are given for things such as showing disrespect to teachers etc. Boys must have their hair cut to a certain length, and example photos are provided on the website. There are students who are learning to become hairdressers and Nada's son goes there for free haircuts. There's a bank on the school grounds. Regular concerts are held at the school. I am very proud of Nada's son. He is studying to become a motor mechanic. His grades are above average and he doesn't cause his mother any grief, and for that, I am thankful. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
