Beating The Bullies

In early January, a video in which a teen- age girl is beaten by several other girls in what looks like a school dormitory went viral in China. One of the perpetrators stamps on the girl’s head while others kick her in the back and legs. The victim is told to stay on the fl oor, kneeling, with her mouth bleeding and face covered in bruises.

Later, local police and the Education Bureau of Ningdu County, east China’s Jiangxi Province, where the incident took place, ran an investigation and made public their fi nd- ings. The girl was attacked by seven of her classmates after reporting them to a teacher for smoking. The assault was, apparently, their way of getting “pay back.” The offend- ing students were subsequently punished by the school in accordance with the severity of their behavior.

As the episode unfolded, many people took to the Internet to express their opinions. Some were appalled by the girls’ behavior, and felt that punishment meted out by the school was far from strict enough. “Those bullies should be sent to prison and get per- manent criminal records,” one netizen wrote on Weibo in a comment on the video.

Public concern

School bullying is not a new topic of debate in China, but a forum mainstay which has drawn increasing attention in recent years as the Internet has brought more cases into view of the public.

Ding Yan, Executive Director of the Hubei Pride and Bright Law Firm, told Beijing Review hat there are multiple reasons behind the phenomenon. Many Chinese students of this generation are the only child in their family, and being the apple of their parents’ eye has made them spoiled and selfish, sometimes resorting to violence when they feel things are not going in their way.

Ding also noted that schools must also shoulder more responsibility for instances of bullying on campus. Some teachers fail to pay enough attention to students, while oth- ers are afraid of being accused of prescribing inappropriate or excessive punishments, so they turn a blind eye to the things that are happening on their watch.

“Students may also be influenced by books, video games and movies that include elements of violence, thinking that it’s ‘cool’ to imitate,” Ding said. “They are too young to distinguish right from wrong.”

Zheng Yuying, a 27-year-old sales repre- sentative, still remembers the time when she was bullied during high school. She described feeling hopeless being constantly laughed at and called names by her classmates.

“For a long time, I didn’t know what I had done wrong and I blamed myself,” she said. Zheng told Beijing Review how she has since suffered from depression, which she does not believe is entirely attributable to her classmates’ treatment of her, but is nonethe- less convinced that the bullying has made it worse.

“It doesn’t necessarily take everyone in- sulting you to make you feel bad. The apathy and indifference of those who do nothing hurts too,” Zheng said.

Now Zheng lives a fulfilling life and has a more objective view on her past. She has a message for those who are still suffering at the hands of school bullies. “The abusers are children who are not strong enough at heart and try to make themselves feel bet- ter by picking on others who are ‘different.’ But being different is not a bad thing, people should remember that,” she said.

Official effort

School bullying has already caught the attention of educators, and progress is now being made among policymakers as well. During the annual full sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, commonly known as the Two Sessions, in 2017, several motions and proposals were made regarding the issue.

In 2016, procurators prosecuted 4,604 people for school bullying-related crimes, and helped 1,560 victims get psychologi- cal counseling and legal aid, according to a work report from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate delivered by Procurator General Cao Jianming at the NPC Session.

In December 2017, an action plan to address the issue of bullying in schools was jointly published by 11 central govern- ment departments, including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Security. The document makes a clear definition of school bullying as the act of an individual or group of students verbally insulting and or physically abusing another individual or group of students, online as well as in person, which leads to bodily injury, loss of assets or psychological impairment.

The plan also stipulates appropriate measures for punishment, which include oral criticisms, compulsory educational courses and referring offenders to public security and judicial departments. It specifically targets bullying at primary, middle and secondary vocational schools.

“The action plan specifi cally defi nes the parameters of the term, which states that intention is a crucial criterion for differen- tiating bullying from making silly jokes for fun,” noted Li Wen, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Education.

He Xiuchao, an offi cial with the Ministry of Education, said that the action plan demonstrates the concerted efforts made by several government departments across dif- ferent fi elds including education, justice and public security, which are necessary because school bullying is a complex problem that cannot be solved by a single sector.

Ding believes China can learn from the practices of other countries, such as send- ing guards to primary and middle schools, providing in-school training on how to pre- vent bullying, and increasing the number of school counselors and medical aides.

“Schools and teachers should strengthen moral education and adopt the right attitude and correct procedure when dealing with cases of bullying in schools,” Ding said.