China’s School Bullying Epidemic

In the past ten years, bullying within schools in China has increased tremendously. In Beijing, dozens of high profile cases of bullying were reported this year alone. Countless numbers of Chinese students have endured bullying, and some of them have even been bullied to death. Some students, like the child of mother Liu Lizhu, suffered in silence before authorities were called and medical attention was needed. The bullying they’ve endured caused these students not to speak out when being mistreated, leaving it up to family members, teachers, and bystanders to notice.

Part of the overwhelming problem lies with the authority’s response; the students who are doing the bullying have a very small price to pay. At most, a school will expel or suspend any student who commits the act of bullying, leaving it on their school record. China’s Child Protection law, leaves minors under the age of 16 free from facing harsh punishment unless they commit serious crimes such as murder and theft. This can often lead to the students bullying others being able to walk away almost scot-free.

Chinese parents and teachers have come together throughout the years to come up with different ways to prevent bullying all together in the school system. Videos of children being bullied by other children in Chinese schools have also gone viral, creating more awareness to the increasing rate of bullying in the Chinese education system. One video portrayed a child being beat by several other students viciously, leaving the victim completely helpless. Friends and family of the victim looked to social media to release their anger on the event. “The bullies were later taken into
custody for causing serious injury, but were released soon after their parents agreed to pay Huang’s family with 210,000 yuan ($33,000) in compensation,” according to a story on CNN.

The negative effects of bullying have been brought to light in this country and sparked national outrage. We can only hope a national response to the epidemic in China will soon take root.