Recently, four surveillance videos from a primary school in Guizhou City have caused a stir online, showing disturbing scenes of violence and bullying in the classroom. In one video, an 8-year-old girl is being physically bullied by several classmates while the homeroom teacher appears to ignore the situation.
According to a report by “Nanfang Dushi Bao,” the mother of the bullied girl, Ms. Huang, revealed that in March last year, her mother discovered extensive bruising on her daughter’s back, neck, waist, and chest after giving her a bath. Distressed, her mother immediately reported the incident to the police and requested to review the surveillance footage. Subsequent medical examinations at Guizhou Provincial People’s Hospital confirmed significant soft tissue injuries.
Reviewing the surveillance footage from February 26 to March 28, 2024, it was revealed that Ms. Huang’s daughter was bullied 42 times within just one month, averaging more than once a day.
One particular video from March 25, 2024, captured a distressing scene during lunch break where several classmates surrounded Ms. Huang’s daughter, physically assaulting her with various objects while the homeroom teacher, Ms. Cai, was present but appeared indifferent.
Friends of Ms. Huang’s daughter and parents of other students informed her that her daughter was chased by a classmate, Huang, from the classroom to the playground, where she was cornered, physically assaulted, and even vomited and urinated out of fear.
Subsequent footage showed a teacher in black arriving in the classroom, witnessing the distressed state of Ms. Huang’s daughter, but instead of intervening, whispered to surrounding students, “Ignore her!” before leaving, sparking laughter among the onlookers.
However, the videos seen by Ms. Huang only portrayed a fraction of the bullying incidents. This caused immense anguish for her, as it felt like a form of torture for her as a mother.
One particularly distressing video depicted Ms. Huang’s daughter desperately trying to leave the classroom while classmates blocked her way, causing immense fear and distress for the young girl.
Ms. Huang recalled that her daughter first reported being chased and bullied by a male classmate named Li back in September 2023, during the second grade. Despite repeated complaints to the homeroom teacher, Ms. Cai dismissed the incidents as mere child’s play.
Following numerous incidents, Ms. Huang’s daughter refrained from informing her out of fear. These relentless acts of bullying not only affected her physically but also resulted in severe hearing impairment as a consequence of the assaults.
Recent medical examinations revealed that her daughter’s hearing impairment had worsened significantly due to the repeated attacks she endured at school, alongside developing severe emotional disorders like anxiety and depression.
After the family uploaded four videos of the bullying incidents online, public outrage grew, with many demanding severe repercussions for those responsible and criticizing the school’s lack of action.
Despite attempts by the school to justify the incidents as misguided attempts to help the victim, Ms. Huang questioned the school’s handling of the situation and the lack of intervention by the teachers present during the assaults.
In response to public outcry, the school authorities issued a statement in December 2024, outlining disciplinary actions against the students involved, the homeroom teacher, and the supervising teacher.
However, Ms. Huang voiced her dissatisfaction, stating that the apologies rendered by the perpetrators and their parents were insincere and disrespectful. She emphasized the inadequacy of verbal reprimands for the bullies and the leniency shown towards the responsible teachers and school officials, urging for strict accountability measures to be taken.
Despite the official response, which involved disciplinary actions against the students and teachers involved, Ms. Huang found the outcomes unsatisfactory and called for more stringent consequences to be implemented. The school authorities’ subsequent handling of the situation, including the reduction of the initial list of five students involved to four, only added to her frustration.
In the wake of the incident, the lack of concrete actions taken by the school and authorities has left Ms. Huang distraught and disappointed. She continues to seek justice and accountability for the traumatic bullying experiences her daughter endured at the hands of her peers.