【Epoch Times June 19, 2025】”Tofu squares,” crew cuts, chanting slogans… Despite repeated crackdowns by authorities, the news of strict student management at Taiyuan No. 37 Middle School in Shanxi continues to surface online. Students at the school complain about the abnormal management practices that have led to depression, yet the school has not provided any positive response so far.
Recently, a middle school student from Taiyuan No. 37 Middle School posted a video on Douyin, recounting his experience of developing moderate depression due to the school’s harsh system. However, the video was taken down. The official censorship has sparked more No. 37 Middle School students and graduates to come forward in support, collectively criticizing the school’s management system that has cast a shadow over their once joyous high school lives.
On social media, some students say, “We will make you admit to all your actions!” Some students even made a teaser trailer for a movie themed around No. 37 Middle School, titled “Anti-corruption Storm,” expressing their hopes that future children won’t have to endure the same pain and urging everyone to embrace happiness and proper education without going through such hardships.
In fact, for the past two years, there have been constant complaints about the unreasonable behavior of No. 37 Middle School, but this time it has attracted more attention from the public.
Mr. Zhang from Taiyuan told Epoch Times that he came across a video about No. 37 Middle School but it disappeared seconds later. He couldn’t find it in his recent viewing history either. This made him pay closer attention to related news and feel incredulous about the harsh and abnormal management methods in mainland Chinese middle schools.
Online, students from No. 37 Middle School mention the school’s management practices, including military-style drills with high leg lifts and arm swings; bed sheets must be folded as “tofu squares,” wrinkles on bed sheets result in class suspensions for internal cleanup; 15 minutes allocated for meals, late reporting results in tardiness; boys’ hair must not exceed three millimeters, girls cannot have bangs and must tie their hair with black ropes and use pure black hair clips; singing revolutionary songs at the top of their lungs until they can taste the bloody sensation in their throat; various forms of formalism competitions leading to late-night rehearsals; evening self-study until 9 p.m. as a reward system, grading system, and more.
A bulletin from a No. 37 Middle School student stated, “This school paints itself as excellent, but only the students know it as an eastern prison. Teachers in the political and educational department scold students every day, ignoring their well-being. Because my English was poor, they kept me until around 8 p.m. every day, not allowing me to go home, causing me to develop depression.” The student even shared a diagnosis document for their depression.
A third-year middle school student about to graduate also expressed online, “During a simulated 800-meter run, I once passed out due to overexertion. The next day, the school called me in for a meeting and stated that I tarnished the school’s reputation and image, implying that if one had to pass out, it should be in a place without school-level supervisors. What I want to say is, No. 37 Middle School lacks any semblance of humanity.”
Other students mentioned that they are not allowed to look up or down during class; they have found hair, bugs, and even a dirty tooth in their food; they are afraid to cover themselves with blankets while sleeping and forbidden to take their clothes off. A former cheerful, social, and talkative individual has transformed into “docile creatures without resistance, devoid of their own thoughts, blindly following all directions.”
Additionally, multiple No. 37 Middle School graduates (high school students) have spoken up online in support of current students, affirming that the student’s narrative is genuine but somehow their passion is inexplicably suppressed.
A 2019 graduate recalled that despite graduating years ago, memories of the school still evoke dark and oppressive scenes. Formalism permeates the entire school; students are required to lift their legs high and swing their arms while leaving or entering the school, shouting slogans aloud. If authorities are not satisfied, students must continue lifting legs and swinging arms, shouting slogans under the scorching sun until the leaders sitting in the shade are appeased.
“Teachers physically punish students… students devoid of any dignity and human rights in the school, merely tools used to boost the academic success rate and as outlets for teachers’ frustrations. During the summer vacation after the high school entrance exam, I reassessed myself and realized I was no longer the same person from primary school. I had become rigid, dull, and lacked independent opinions.”
A 2021 graduate mentioned that due to the school’s military-style management, every aspect of life like eating, drinking, using the restroom, and sleeping is tormenting. Students are prohibited from drinking water in class and are not allowed to roll over while sleeping. If we were to rank activities in terms of time consumption, chanting slogans comes first, tidying up internal affairs second, standing in proper military posture, high arm swings, and leg lifts third, and cleaning fourth. Learning is squeezed into the gaps between these activities. “The pain we endured is like traps on the mountain road to success.”
A former 2020 No. 37 Middle School student told Epoch Times that everything being said online is true, without exaggeration. This management style seems to have started around the 2014 cohort. “There are no pleasant memories left in this school; all activities are about lining up, listening to speeches, and performing rituals.”
He mentioned that this management style does indeed yield high scores; over 90% of the main campus students get into high school, and the high school department has a 100% success rate for second-tier universities. The nearby residents are aware of the school’s management style, but there was little fervor about it. This management style demolishes students’ autonomy in learning. Issues like how to behave in society and interact with others are neglected.
“During the ‘dual reduction’ period, the school turns a blind eye; weekend remedial classes, winter vacation classes are held, underperforming students are brought to school to receive extra classes, and it’s fine for the homeroom teacher to have the whole class attend. As my former homeroom teacher told me, during a recent ‘dual reduction’ period, parents went to the school gate to complain, and the principal called special police.” He revealed.
He further disclosed that many teachers only stay for two years before leaving. The school comprises mostly young teachers without permanent positions, cycling every few years. Those with permanent positions find it challenging to resign. While most teachers might have slightly subpar teaching abilities, they are generally responsible individuals.
“The school leaders scold people, even the teachers are compelled; I’ve been scolded many times too,” he stated. “Two years ago, there was a student suicide at the Causeway Bay campus, maybe due to something the political and educational head told him, leading him to jump off the building. Previously, a teacher even broke a student’s bone. No other schools, not even the Hengshui model, are like us; Hengshui only focuses on making students study to death, granting all to learning, but No. 37 Middle School depends on pleasing the principal for everything.”
Mr. Zhang from Taiyuan, a 2003 graduate of No. 37 Middle School, reflected that back then, while discipline was strict, students enjoyed food freedom and there weren’t uniform hairstyle regulations. He sported a Jay Chou-style haircut, and the girls even dyed their hair. However, things have changed drastically now. He recalled two friends who enrolled at No. 37 Middle School later; they had to keep chanting slogans until they were hoarse.
“When I think about the East Mountain Branch of No. 37 Middle School, it sends chills down my spine. Boys all have identical crew cuts; girls all have short hair and stand at attention with wooden expressions. There are serious ethical issues, and teachers would physically hit students impulsively. The headmaster has ties to the Education Bureau.”
Regarding the issues exposed this time, some netizens commented, “Is it isolated to just No. 37 Middle School? Many schools torment students mercilessly.” “Implementing military-style management in middle school is harmful to children.”
Founder of “Life Energy Education,” Yang Feng, analyzed in an interview with Epoch Times that on the surface, the Chinese Communist Party’s exam-oriented system forces schools to meet increasingly quantified demands to ensure academic competitiveness. This leads to restrictions imposed layer by layer on teachers and eventually on students. Counting the numbers of students, scores, comparison within and between grades, as well as among teachers, has qualitatively distorted education.
“Because it’s becoming more quantified, everything, from the standards of dressing to minor infractions like not waiting for the bell to ring before exiting class, is punished. If you push ahead during a run or jostle during an activity, you are penalized. Therefore, students are managed more and more like puppets.”
Yang Feng previously taught in mainland China for many years and believes that with the proliferation of electronic devices, students have access to more information, granting them diverse perspectives. Some are influenced by societal temptations, while others have novel ideas. Regardless of the nature of their thoughts, schools must suppress them and subject them to the selection system; otherwise, the school will be penalized, as the Education Commission evaluates schools based on quantifiable teacher and student performance.
He explained that in the late 1990s, the Chinese Communist Party introduced military training into high schools, universities, and even implemented militarized management. Managing students became challenging because the party’s education lacks human values, thus the more it controls, the more it stifles children’s natural tendencies, leading to more defiance, further repression, and heightened enforcement.
“This problem is now very prominent,” Yang Feng stated. Amid the high-pressure military-style management, schools achieve higher university admission rates, but once students enter universities, they immediately lose focus and fall into a state of confusion. A few years back, a professor at Peking University, Xu Kaiwen, conducted research on first-year and graduate students, finding that over 70% suffered from psychological issues, coining the phenomenon as ‘hollow heart syndrome.’ Consequently, many students are committing suicide, battling depression, and facing numerous mental health challenges.
Yang Feng believes that fundamentally, the Chinese Communist Party’s education instills atheism and evolution theory. “To put it simply, it’s an education system that disregards life. Every regulation and evaluation neglects your dignity as a human being. The school is akin to a ‘Darwinian concentration camp,’ which is a more precise way of describing it.”