Singapore has introduced new guidelines that allow schools to cane male students who bully their peers, including those who take their torment online through cyberbullying. The measure, discussed in parliament on Tuesday, applies to boys aged nine and above, according to a report by The Guardian.
Under the rules, caning is framed explicitly as a "last resort" - meaning schools would need to exhaust other disciplinary options before reaching for the rattan. Male students found guilty of bullying can receive up to three strokes of the cane. Female students are not subject to corporal punishment under the guidelines.
Old-school discipline meets new-school problems
What makes this particularly striking is the explicit inclusion of cyberbullying as a trigger for the punishment. Yes, you read that correctly - posting mean comments from the comfort of your bedroom could, in theory, lead to a very uncomfortable experience at school the next morning. Singapore has essentially told its bullies that the digital world is not a consequence-free zone.
Corporal punishment in Singaporean schools is not new - caning has existed within the system for decades, primarily as a tool for serious disciplinary breaches. What these guidelines do is formalize and expand the circumstances under which it can be applied, directly targeting bullying behavior in a way that is now codified rather than left to individual school discretion.
The bigger picture
Singapore has long maintained a reputation for strict rule enforcement - this is, after all, the country famously associated with heavy fines for everything from littering to not flushing public toilets. The approach reflects a broader national philosophy that discipline and social order are non-negotiable, even among schoolchildren.
Critics of corporal punishment in schools argue that it models aggressive behavior rather than discouraging it - a somewhat ironic concern when the goal is specifically to reduce aggression among students. Advocates, on the other hand, point to Singapore's consistently low crime rates and high academic performance as evidence that firm discipline produces results.
Whether caning cyberbullies will deter kids from firing off nasty messages at 11pm remains, to put it mildly, an open empirical question. But Singapore has clearly decided it is not interested in waiting around for a gentler solution to kick in.
The Guardian reported the new guidelines were formally discussed in parliament on Tuesday, May 6, 2026.
