Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Episodes of violence, beatings, murders for trivial reasons are becoming more frequent among young Chinese students. They learn from Communist indoctrinated schools that competitiveness and success are more important than respect for human life. The same inhumane acts are committed and tolerated by adults who copied by the young people. In recent months, reports are emerging of dozens of cases of brutal murders in schools, including that of a thirteen year old who beheaded a class mate because she was more beautiful than her.
Eric Chui Wing-hong, researcher and expert on youth crime at the University of Hong Kong, says that "it's worrying that teenagers...see violence as a means to resolve matters, even petty conflicts". The academic notes "bloody violence is a reflection of a disregard for human life that has now permeated the mainstream society." Chui claims since 1949 in China the value of human life has fallen to no importance, reaching its climax with the Cultural Revolution began in the mid 1960s. "This - he explains - has formed a climate in which a human life is worth very little."
According to the researcher cases of bullying among teenagers have become real murders and are a frequent and alarmingly increasing occurance. On April 21, a 19-year-old student of a vocational school, Fuping County (Shaanxi), was stabbed seven times in the back and legs by three classmates because he was swaggering. The young man survived, but it took over 25 stitches to heal the wounds. Four days later, a group of pupils in a school in the county Guangfeng (Jiangxi) stabbed to death a companion. On May 7, two other attacks took place in two schools in the district of Yan'an (Shaanxi). In the Fu county, a third year student was butchered to death by another student, while in the county of Yanchuan a young high school student stabbed a peer. The most dramatic case occurred instead in Guagxi, where a girl of only 12 years old beheaded a friend of 13 because jealous of her physical beauty. On 8 May, the court sentenced the young girl to three years of rehabilitation.
Chui sees the frequency and brutality of these murders, as a confirmation that young people are encouraged to challenge the morals of society and some may even have a sense of satisfaction or achievement after attacking classmates. "The cases have occurred in recent months - he explains -could be linked to an educational system geared towards performance, with little regard for the development of the person."
"School administrators - he explains - follow the directives of the party officials and work to increase their credentials and reputation to bring prestige to the school or give them the credentials to teach at university." This attitude is reflected in programs focused only on learning and pupils' work and not on the development and education of their personality. "In China - he concludes - there are no educational facilities and social services similar to those in Hong Kong and this increases conflicts and cases of murder among the students."