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Stopping child abuse in China's kingdergarten
Source:Globaltimes.cn Published: 2012-10-25 18:23:00
| Latest News |
Teacher abuses kids, posts photos
Two kindergarten teachers suspected of mistreating pupils have been detained by local police in the city of Wenling, East China's Zhejiang Province Thursday, according to the official Sina Weibo account of the city's public security bureau.
Kindergarten teachers detained for "ear pulling" in East China
Two female kindergarten teachers in East China's Zhejiang Province have been detained by police for pulling the ears of a student "for fun," according to a local government announcement on Thursday.
Kindergarten teacher detained for hitting children in N. China
A female teacher in a kindergarten in north China's Shanxi Province has been detained by police after she smacked children, authorities said Tuesday.
| View Points |
Chinese Media Digest
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Qilu Evening News based in Shandong Province speculated that current preschool education has been influenced by the commoditization of the country's educational system. Currently, preschool education is not part of China's compulsory education and does not receive enough financial support from the government. Therefore, social investment is encouraged to support preschool education, to make up insufficient State-run institutes. Some kindergartens have to lower standards during the recruitment process, due to the need to control cost. This results in a lack of quality and consistency among preschool teachers. The paper suggests that to avoid more cases of abuse, the focus must expand beyond improving the quality of teachers. Related department should be enforced, and a tightening of regulations, through legislation, is needed. |
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People's Daily offered two suggestions in dealing with the proliferation of child abuse in preschools. Firstly, there must be increased legal supervision. China already has related laws and regulations to protect the rights of students. However, because of poor implementation and supervision, student abuse still exists. Secondly, love is a necessary component of all education, particularly for preschool students. An education rooted in emotional growth can cultivate children on how to love and have a sense of justice. This is the most important function of a preschool education. Teachers should educate children and use patience and love. To punish the perpetrators is not enough. The core focus of the future development of the educational system is to cultivate the importance of love and respect, which requires the efforts of society at large, the paper added. |
Weibo Voices
@我是做纪录片整合的: There have been many recent cases involving child abuse where those accused were fired. However, as a mother, what can we do about the scars they have left behind？Children are our country’s future, but they will certainly suffer as they grow up with the shadow of past abuse lurking over them. I am even reluctant to send my child to kindergarten now. Child abusers should be severely punished.
@阿慧-翎: It’s really messed up! Teachers may be under pressure, but they should never take it out on children. Although some kindergarten teachers may be certified, are they morally and ethically fit to be teachers?
@ Fairytale-ZWL: I had a middle school classmate who became a kindergarten teacher after failing to test into high school. How can we cultivate upstanding kindergarten teachers with such low standards？ My foreign teachers say that preschool educators usually hold PhDs or are professors in their countries. Here, we’re the exact opposite.
@吾爱芳菲_在南: This kindergarten teacher is obviously not mature enough. The whole incident seems to be a grown-up child bullying younger children who are not able to fight back. She thinks just because she touts the title “kindergarten teacher” her behavior is justified, and even sent pictures of the abuse to parents. Why didn’t the teacher who took these photos just stop it from happening? I think that teacher is also unqualified to be a kindergarten teacher and should be fired. Nowadays, some kindergarten teachers do not hold college degrees, plus many are young, irresponsible and lack patience.
@Aspenfreedom: Education does not only mean teaching, but learning also. We need to think about what else we can do and how to prevent educators from harming our children.
@ Shoya1988: We need to find out the truth and find out whether there are other factors at play in this abuse case.
| Similar Cases |
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Incidents |
Time |
Location |
Results |
|
A teacher holds up a male student by his ears. |
October, 2012 |
Wenling, East China's Zhejiang Province |
The teacher was detained on suspicion of provoking a disturbance. |
|
A teacher slapped a five-year-old girl in the face because she was having trouble with arithmetic. |
October, 2012 |
Taiyuan, North China's Shanxi Province |
The teacher was given 15-day administrative detention by the police. Authorities ordered the kindergarten to be closed down. |
|
A teacher was accused of inserting a bean into the vagina of a young student. |
May, 2012 |
Shanghai |
The teacher was suspended. |
|
A teacher burned 10 children’s back of hand after they could not recite their lesson. |
December, 2011 |
Xunyang county, Shannxi Province |
The kindergarten was closed, and the teacher was severely punished. |
|
A teacher interning at a school forced a five-year-old girl to lick up the spit she had spit on the floor. |
December, 2009 |
Chongqing |
The kindergarten stopped her internship and requested to ban her for life from teaching. |
| Reasons |
- Private, locally-run kindergartens are not supervised enough.
- Reputable kindergartens are expensive and remain out of reach for many families.
- Smaller, private kindergartens do not have the budget to recruit qualified teachers.
- Many preschool educators are not qualified.
Source: CRI
| Regulations |
China
China passed Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors in 1991 and amended it in 2006. The Ministry of Education plans to publish regulations to strengthen preschool education in China.
USIn 1974, US Congress passed the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. Child Protective Services departments exist at the local governmental level throughout the US.
Japan
Japan passed its first anti-child abuse law in 2001.
| Prevention |
The government should enhance supervision of both kindergartens and teachers.Laws protecting minors should increase punishment dealt to child abusers and others involved.The education and training of kindergarten teachers should be improved, as well as on-the-job training of qualified candidates. Higher standards should be enforced in the area of preschool education.Source: Agencies
Posted in: Society