The topic of corporal punishment (体罚 (tǐ fá)) has recently become a widely discussed topic in China recently. Read on to find out why.
On September 17th, 2020, a junior middle school student who was only 14 years ended his life by jumping off a school building. The reason was because his mum had punished him physically in front of his whole school.
On the day of the incident, the student was playing card games with two other students in a classroom. They were caught by the headteacher who in turn asked their parents to come into the school. In fifth floor corridors of the school building, the mum slapped her son a few times in the face while shouting and belittling him in front of other students. After she left, he stood in the same spot for a few minutes in silence and then jumped off the fifth floor of the school. He passed away later that day.
This has caused an uproar on 微博 (wēi bó), a social media platform in China and we’ll look at the comments to see what people think of the incident.
Chinese comment: 当着同学的面儿打脸孩子哪受得了啊
Pinyin: Dāngzhe tóngxué de miàn er dǎ liǎn háizi nǎ shòu deliǎo a!)
English translation: Hitting her son in front of his classmates, what child can take this?
Chinese comment: 这点破事叫家长?!
Pinyin: Zhè diǎnpò shì jiào jiāzhǎng?!
English translation: This insignificant thing is a parent?
Chinese comment: 一次的当众羞辱背后，一定是无数次的家庭言语。甚至身体暴力。孩子下辈子好好投胎吧。
Pinyin: Yícì de dàng zhòng xiūrǔ bèihòu, yídìng shì wú cì de jiātíng yányǔ. Shènzhì shēntǐ bàolì. Háizi xiàbèizi hǎohǎo tóutāi ba.
English translation: There's a story behind a one-off public humiliation, similar things must have happened for countless times at home. There's even the use of physical violence. I hope the child can be reborn into a better next life.
But not all commenters have sympathy, one comment goes as follows:
Chinese comment: 欲盖弥彰，越强调 ’自尊心‘，事实上越是玻璃心，现在对孩子太过溺爱了，也导致孩子不懂事，关于熊孩子这个词越来越多不是没原因，无法长大无法独立，打不得骂不得，一经打骂就像受了天大的委屈。
Pinyin: Yùgàimízhāng, yuè qiángdiào’ zìzūnxīn ‘, shìshí shàngyuè shì bōlí xīn, xiànzài duì háizi tàiguò nì'àile, yě dǎozhì háizi bù dǒngshì, guānyú xióng háizi zhège cí yuè lái yuè duō búshì méi yuányīn, wúfǎ zhǎng dà wúfǎ dúlì, dǎ bùdé mà bùdé, yījīng dǎ mà jiù xiàng shòule tiān dà de wěiqu.
English translation: To wrap it up, we emphasize 'self-esteem'. In reality, this so-called 'self esteem' is more like 'glass heart'. These days, spoiling children will guide them to not understand life. The increasingly popular term of 'bear children' isn't without reason, those that cannot grow up and become independent, they cannot stand being hit or shouted at. And once they do get hit or shouted at, it will seem as if the sky has fallen down on them.
These are only 4 perspectives of many comments on the issue of this case. Therefore, please note that it doesn’t represent the entire view of the Chinese population, What is your view on corporal punishment, let us know in the comments.
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