Surveillance footage shows a teacher assaulting two students in front of an entire class at a school in China’s Yunnan Province on April 13. The headteacher has been fired and is being investigated, according to Chinese trending-media website The Paper.cn.
The high school teacher kicked, slapped, and pulled the hair of the two boys in front of a stoic classroom of sophomore-aged students.
The two students were eating snacks and talking to each other during the nightly silent-study time, the report said.
It is not uncommon for Chinese high school students to stay in their classroom, doing homework, until late into the evening, six days a week.
Ironically, a poster on the wall that is used to inspire the students actually encourages ferocity.
The names of the teacher and the two students were not given in the report.
The Fierce Teacher
Surveillance footage revealed two male students standing at the front of the class, with books in hand and heads hung low. The teacher stands in the doorway with his hands behind his back.
Though the video footage has no sound, the teacher likely calls the two boys over, as they both turn to him and walk to the door.
When they arrive in front of their teacher, he slaps the taller of the two boys, then grabs his hair and yanks him forward.
Just moments later, the teacher then turns his rage to the shorter boy, wearing the red-and-white school uniform. He kicks the boy, slaps him, shoves him, then kicks him again, all the way to the other side of the classroom.
The teacher’s final kick causes the boy to collapse against the wall and slumps to the floor. However, the boy quickly gets up.
The teacher stands in front of the class with his hands behind his back and points directly at the security camera.
Many of the students have not even looked up from their desks during the assault.
The teacher was fired and is under investigation for attacking the two students.
Intense Education
Chinese students have only one chance in their life to enter college. One single test taken at their final year of the high school determines the quality of college that they attend.
This causes extreme levels of study and pressure for students. Schools are mandated to use inspiring slogans to encourage the students to work harder, sometimes they contain propaganda from the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
The red poster in the classroom is a modified version of a traditional Chinese saying, which can be translated as, “balance out one’s line of thought.” The first character, the one for “balance” has been switched for another which sounds somewhat similar to it. However, that character would mean “make fierce” in this situation.
The head teacher is responsible for hanging the posters in their classroom.
