A Hsinchu junior high graduate scratching Mayor Ann Kao's name off an award certificate and asking Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen to sign it instead has turned a school prize into a political fight.

• The student approached Shen while he was campaigning at a Taipei market, holding the defaced certificate.
• The school's principal, Pan Chih-hui, pushed back on Facebook, saying a 15-year-old is still forming values and that dragging education into politics helps no one.
• Comments split fast: some praised the principal for defending schools, others said kids today can judge for themselves and should be free to take a side.
• The principal's line — that freedom comes with responsibility, and respect should not be this hard in politics — is now the flashpoint.

Outlook: Expect the row to keep running as a proxy fight between Kao's and Shen's camps in the run-up to the Taipei mayoral race.