A school problem that needs treating seriously

A number of girls beat and kick a fellow female student who kneels down on the ground in Yongxin county, Jiangxi province. [Photo/ Weibo]

A 12-YEAR-OLD STUDENT at Loving Righteousness School in Longhua New District of Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong province, was punched and kicked by more than a dozen older students and forced to kneel down and slap his own face. The perpetrators filmed their bullying and streamed the 1 minute 46 seconds video online. Sznews.cn commented on Tuesday:

Even though the chaos and cruelty of the campus bullying keeps making headlines, the saying and thinking of "it's a child's thing" is still quite prevalent. But that is quite a simple value judgment.

Behind many incidents of campus bullying there is often a triad member or so-called Big Brother.

Campus bullying is not unique to China; it is a widespread and serious phenomenon around the world. In the United States, Japan, Germany and other countries, there are a large number of laws and regulations that stipulate precautions and intervention measures to tackle bullying in schools.

Once a school discovers any bullying, immediate action should be taken, for example, expelling students immediately for serious acts; ensuring the judiciary is involved in criminal offenses; and, if a case is serious, minors may be convicted as adults.

China needs to deal with the problem in a similar way. Students are people and they display the same tendencies that exist in adult society, such as delinquency, organized gangs and so on.

Any intentional or unintentional understatement of the seriousness of bullying, or any covering up of the problem by schools, is irresponsible.