April 19, 2006
JC student kills himself, convinced his private parts were too
small
Suicide highlights importance of sex education in schools, says
coroner
HE WAS a second-year student at a top
junior college, a member of the school volleyball team, a ‘cheerful
and energetic’ boy who was doing well enough in his studies to take
Special Papers.
Yet on March 3 this year, the 18-year-old jumped to his death from
a Bedok housing block, because he was convinced his private parts
were too small.
Delivering a verdict of suicide yesterday, State Coroner Tan Boon
Heng was sufficiently concerned by this ‘tragedy of misinformation’
to recommend that the case be forwarded to the Ministry of
Education (MOE).
‘The importance of sex education to our young people in schools
cannot be over- emphasised,’ he wrote.
‘The case study is useful for relevant MOE
officers to appreciate the problem of the severity of
misinformation even among the best and brightest in our
schools.’
The boy, who cannot be named, had confided in his mother in October
last year that he was worried his private parts were too
small.
She took him to a neighbourhood clinic, where the doctor told him
his penis was of a normal size for an Asian man, and prescribed him
multivitamins.
Despite strong emotional support from his girlfriend and his
mother, he remained convinced he had a problem. He also had a
history of being stressed over schoolwork.
In January this year, he told his mother that his life was ‘boring
and meaningless’ and that the only thing stopping him from suicide
was his family’s love.
On March 3, after his usual volleyball practice, he took a bus from
school to the Bedok interchange, but did not take his usual
connecting bus home. When his sister sent him a text message at
around 7pm to ask if he was coming home for dinner, he replied that
he would eat out.
The next and final message she received from him was at 8pm,
telling her and their mother to take care.
They realised something was wrong, but he repeatedly failed to
answer his phone.
He jumped from a housing block near the Bedok bus interchange at
around 8.30pm.
He was semi-conscious when he was taken to Changi General Hospital,
but was pronounced dead at 10.40pm from multiple injuries.
In his suicide note, written in a notebook he had bought 40 minutes
before his death, he apologised to his girlfriend and his family
for killing himself.
‘He said it was not due to the stress of his examination, but it
was more about his physical development…He still knew there was
something wrong with his body parts,’ the investigation report
said.
In his judgment, State Coroner Tan said the boy’s death showed that
even intelligent young people can be victims of
misinformation.
‘While we are the beneficiaries of this Internet age that hails an
era of information and knowledge enriching our lives, the
less-informed also become victims to junk information and worse,
untruths,’ he said.
‘The deceased was so tormented by his unfounded (belief in his)
inadequacy that it drove him to end his life.’
The case highlighted the importance of sexuality education, both in
and out of school, he said.
‘It may have helped if the deceased had the benefit of counselling
now widely available. If parents are aware of their children being
tormented in this way, they should seek professional help lest such
tragic deaths should happen again.’
Sex education, usually termed sexuality education, usually takes
the form of a short series of lessons.
One secondary school teacher with five years’ experience told The
Straits Times that at his school, sex education covers three
periods a week for three weeks.
Students write reflection logs on topics like boy-girl
relationships, different levels of intimacy, as well as legal
issues.
However, he said teaching students how to be comfortable with their
physical and sexual development is not in the syllabus.
‘But this is something that should be looked into because it is
definitely part of the students’ development,’ he said.
