On Campuses in China, Student Beatings Are Common
Videos posted, circulated on Internet
Nov 10, 2009
One video circulated around Chinese Web sites recently showed a female student in Shanghai viciously beating another girl; the victim’s hair was pulled as she was repeatedly slapped in the face, kicked in the abdomen, and kneed in the back.
A camera rolled while bystanders snapped photos with their cell phones, laughing and chatting about the incident.
At one point, someone lit a cigarette for the attacker.
There were many onlookers, but none intervened.
The video, over five minutes long, was widely circulated after being uploaded on Oct. 22. The aggressor, Ms. Xiong, was a student of Nanhu Vocational School; she beat up the other girl for being with her boyfriend, according to the Web sites, which carried the video.
The incident, and video, sparked a protest from those who saw it. Hundreds gathered in front of the school on Oct. 26, demanding Xiong be punished. “The principal should apologize!” some shouted, “It’s a disgrace for Shanghai, and it’s a disgrace for the educational community!”
The assault is one in a chain of escalating violence among female students in China over recent years. Some experts see the phenomenon as a consequence of China’s education and political system.
"Violence among students or in society is more common now,” said Professor Sun Wenguang, who has taught at Shandong University. He told New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) that the “teaching in China's educational system contains much violence. [The history of] ‘Land Reform,’ the ‘Liberation War,’ and ‘denouncing and torturing landlords publicly’ for example, are all about violence. But they are highly regarded and commended as examples of revolution in textbooks.”
Violence is frequently seen in society, Sun said, citing the example of officials beating street peddlers.
“For instance, the police beat me up when I went to mourn [ousted leader] Zhao Ziyang on April 5. They broke four of my ribs. People are aware that violence is very common.”
There are no consequences for beating up people, Sun said. “If you are beaten, you are beaten, and that’s that. Violence becomes a way to resolve conflicts. It has a lot to do with the government’s posturing.”
Violence in Chinese society also plays out in the high rate of unnatural deaths of children. According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Public Security, and China Children’s Press & Publication Group, around 16,000 elementary and middle school children die unnatural deaths every year—an average of 40 per day. [/B]The survey was conducted in ten different cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai.
Campus Violence Across the Country
Videos of violence at schools come from across China.
On Oct. 22 six female seniors at a Shaanxi university dragged a junior student from campus to their dorm, stripped her, and then beat her for hours. The older girls apparently didn’t like the junior’s attitude, according to reports.
The girl suffered bruises to her face, ears, neck, chest, shoulders, and back, along with fractured bones in the neck. The six seniors were taken into custody.
In Xi’an on Sept. 8 several students at a vocational school pushed a 16-year-old freshman, Xiaomei, to the ground and beat her. She was stripped naked and photographed by bystanders with their cell phones. One of the attackers claimed that she thought Xiaomei had been glaring at her in class.
According to the Southern Metropolis Daily, in Guandong Province a girl in a school uniform was stripped naked under the gaze of many young male onlookers and beaten up by other girls. The nine-minute video was circulated on the Internet. Three suspects were taken into custody on Oct. 12.
Searching Chinese Web sites can yield thousands of videos of campus violence.
Videos that have achieved recent notoriety on the Internet show spectators empowered by a crowd, with little shame in witnessing the violence. In each case the beating was allowed to run its course.
In a recent case in Xi’an City a group of middle school students assaulted their classmate with flying jump-kicks. The process was recorded and uploaded to the Internet because “It was fun,” according students quoted by Chinese Business View.
“Education in China does not stress morality,” says Professor Xu Yin, who taught at Tsinghua University. “The Communist Party itself promotes the philosophy of fighting, which has a very bad influence on children. As a result, children become very high-handed. They are also spoiled at home and resort to bullying and dominance outside.
Videos posted, circulated on Internet
Nov 10, 2009
One video circulated around Chinese Web sites recently showed a female student in Shanghai viciously beating another girl; the victim’s hair was pulled as she was repeatedly slapped in the face, kicked in the abdomen, and kneed in the back.
A camera rolled while bystanders snapped photos with their cell phones, laughing and chatting about the incident.
At one point, someone lit a cigarette for the attacker.
There were many onlookers, but none intervened.
The video, over five minutes long, was widely circulated after being uploaded on Oct. 22. The aggressor, Ms. Xiong, was a student of Nanhu Vocational School; she beat up the other girl for being with her boyfriend, according to the Web sites, which carried the video.
The incident, and video, sparked a protest from those who saw it. Hundreds gathered in front of the school on Oct. 26, demanding Xiong be punished. “The principal should apologize!” some shouted, “It’s a disgrace for Shanghai, and it’s a disgrace for the educational community!”
The assault is one in a chain of escalating violence among female students in China over recent years. Some experts see the phenomenon as a consequence of China’s education and political system.
"Violence among students or in society is more common now,” said Professor Sun Wenguang, who has taught at Shandong University. He told New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) that the “teaching in China's educational system contains much violence. [The history of] ‘Land Reform,’ the ‘Liberation War,’ and ‘denouncing and torturing landlords publicly’ for example, are all about violence. But they are highly regarded and commended as examples of revolution in textbooks.”
Violence is frequently seen in society, Sun said, citing the example of officials beating street peddlers.
“For instance, the police beat me up when I went to mourn [ousted leader] Zhao Ziyang on April 5. They broke four of my ribs. People are aware that violence is very common.”
There are no consequences for beating up people, Sun said. “If you are beaten, you are beaten, and that’s that. Violence becomes a way to resolve conflicts. It has a lot to do with the government’s posturing.”
Violence in Chinese society also plays out in the high rate of unnatural deaths of children. According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Public Security, and China Children’s Press & Publication Group, around 16,000 elementary and middle school children die unnatural deaths every year—an average of 40 per day. [/B]The survey was conducted in ten different cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai.
Campus Violence Across the Country
Videos of violence at schools come from across China.
On Oct. 22 six female seniors at a Shaanxi university dragged a junior student from campus to their dorm, stripped her, and then beat her for hours. The older girls apparently didn’t like the junior’s attitude, according to reports.
The girl suffered bruises to her face, ears, neck, chest, shoulders, and back, along with fractured bones in the neck. The six seniors were taken into custody.
In Xi’an on Sept. 8 several students at a vocational school pushed a 16-year-old freshman, Xiaomei, to the ground and beat her. She was stripped naked and photographed by bystanders with their cell phones. One of the attackers claimed that she thought Xiaomei had been glaring at her in class.
According to the Southern Metropolis Daily, in Guandong Province a girl in a school uniform was stripped naked under the gaze of many young male onlookers and beaten up by other girls. The nine-minute video was circulated on the Internet. Three suspects were taken into custody on Oct. 12.
Searching Chinese Web sites can yield thousands of videos of campus violence.
Videos that have achieved recent notoriety on the Internet show spectators empowered by a crowd, with little shame in witnessing the violence. In each case the beating was allowed to run its course.
In a recent case in Xi’an City a group of middle school students assaulted their classmate with flying jump-kicks. The process was recorded and uploaded to the Internet because “It was fun,” according students quoted by Chinese Business View.
“Education in China does not stress morality,” says Professor Xu Yin, who taught at Tsinghua University. “The Communist Party itself promotes the philosophy of fighting, which has a very bad influence on children. As a result, children become very high-handed. They are also spoiled at home and resort to bullying and dominance outside.
