Bullying incidents in Chinese schools are on the rise. Following the bullying incident involving minors in Jiangyou, a new case emerged recently in Shiqiao Town, Cangwu County, Wuzhou City, Guangxi, where a female student was reportedly bullied by multiple classmates.
On the evening of September 5th, a video of a female student being bullied by multiple female students at Shi Qiao Middle School circulated online. The video showed a girl being forced to kneel on the ground while one bully sat on her, another poured water over her head, three others stepped on her head with one even making a V-sign gesture while taking a selfie. Another section of the video displayed the girl being slapped and kicked by the bullies in turns.
“I have identified 8 individuals (bullies) for now, two of whom share a dormitory with her (Xiao Tang),” Xiao Tang’s uncle told the Xiaoxiang Morning News on September 7th. Xiao Tang, 14 years old and in her second year of junior high school, was bullied on September 3rd and 4th this month when “they asked her for money, and if she refused, they would beat her.”
Xiao Tang’s uncle stated, “The school knew about this incident earliest, but they did not inform us parents. We only found out about it after watching the video.” Currently, Xiao Tang is undergoing treatment in the hospital.
Mr. Tang expressed no sympathy towards the bullies, the bullying incident is still under resolution, and there is no clear outcome yet. “We hope to obtain a clear outcome that is fair, open, and conducted justly.”
According to the villagers of Xiao Tang’s village who spoke to the Red Star News, Xiao Tang’s parents were not at home, and she lived with her grandmother. When Xiao Tang returned home on the 5th, her family noticed her swollen face and asked her what happened. Initially, she dared not admit (being beaten) and said she fell on her own. Later, when her grandmother learned about her being beaten, they immediately took her to the school to report the incident. Afterwards, they took Xiao Tang to the hospital that evening.
In response, the Joint Investigation Team of Cangwu County reported that several eighth-grade female students at Shi Qiao Middle School engaged in physical and verbal abuse against one female student on September 3rd at around 12:30 pm and September 4th at around 12:30 pm due to “accumulated grievances over trivial matters”. The girl is currently resting at home, and the county public security authorities have initiated an investigation.
The incident has sparked public concern online, with netizens stating, “I’m from the neighboring town, and I was heartbroken after watching the video last night. They must be severely punished, so awful.” “It’s too terrifying. When we send our kids to school, we worry so much. What are the principals doing? What about the class teachers and the educational department heads?” “The principal and the educational department heads must be kicked out of the school. The director of the Education Bureau of Cangwu County should be demoted, not to mention the teachers and principals.”
“Conducting it publicly is just a pretense, mere verbal warnings. This will only make them more arrogant. They must pay a heavy price.” “I will never forgive. Age is not an excuse for breaking the law.”
Prior to this incident, a bullying incident occurred in late July in Jiangyou, a county-level city under Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, where a 14-year-old girl was forced by three underage girls to undress, kneel down, endure slapping, whipping with a stick, kicking in the back, and more. The bullies even dared the victim to call the police, saying, “It’s not like you haven’t been inside, you came out in 20 minutes!” After the bullying video went viral online, it led to thousands of people protesting in front of the Jiangyou City government.