Photo: Sina Weibo 

Police in East China’s Fujian Province have started an investigation into a school bullying case after a video clip that went viral on Monday showed a middle school student being compelled to eat feces in a school toilet. The incident has once again sparked the public’s concerns over school bullying on Chinese school campuses. 

In the video, a male student squatting down beside a toilet dipped his finger in the feces in the toilet and was being forced by another student nearby to swallow the feces. 

The student rejected to follow the instructions in the beginning but eventually gave in to threats and ate them. He was even asked by the other student whether the feces tasted good. 

According to media reports, the student being bullied is from Qiaoyu Middle School in Yongding district, Longyan city, in East China’s Fujian Province. The public school was established in 1939 with multiple honors as a “civilized school.”

On Tuesday, the local education bureau in Longyan replied to the media that the education authority has engaged in the investigation of the incident and the investigation result will be revealed to the public in a timely manner. A staffer from the school also told media that the school had arranged personnel to conduct psychological counseling for the student. 

The police in Longyan told media on Tuesday that the incident happened on October 26. After they received the report of the incident on Monday, they immediately launched an investigation. So far, they have identified the personnel involved in the case and entire process of the incident. 

However, since the personnel involved in the case are all minors, the police will not disclose the details of the case to the public in accordance with the laws. Next, the police will deal with the personnel involved in the case according to laws and regulations. 

The education bureau in Yongding district have set up a work group to conduct the investigation into the incident, carry out the psychological counseling work for the bullied student and visit the student and his family. The education authority vows to launch a special campaign against school bullying across the district to strengthen the education of rule of law and security education to prevent a similar case from happening. 

The local police and education authorities also reminded the public not to repost and spread the video to avoid causing harms to the minors and their families for a second time. 

The incident sparked heated discussions on the internet as school bullying cases have been reported frequently in recent years. A netizen commented on Sina Weibo that the existing laws and regulations apparently cannot deter such cases from happening and there is an urgent need to set up a long-term mechanism to resolve school bullying through legislation. 

According to China’s Law on the Protection of Minors, schools should establish a system for preventing and controlling bullying among students. Schools shall strengthen the discipline of underage students who exert bullying in accordance with the nature and extent of the bullying. For serious bullying, the school shall not conceal and should promptly report to the public security organs, education administrative departments and cooperate with relevant departments in dealing with the cases according to the laws.

Some experts also pointed out that school bullying occurs mostly in remote and secluded locations where there is usually no surveillance cameras. Thus, the school, while improving its system for preventing and combating bullying, might consider installing emergency bells or similar devices in places like restrooms and corridors to make it easier for students to seek help. 

In June of this year, a similar case happened in Jiexiu city in North China’s Shanxi Province where a 12-year-old boy surnamed Li was beaten by three other minors aged 11 and 12 and was forced to eat feces. 

According to a circulated video, Li, sitting on the ground with feces in his hands, was coughing while putting the feces into his mouth. A voice in the video demanded the boy to swallow the feces. 

When the boy attempted to vomit it out, he was somehow intimidated and said in panic that he would swallow the feces. 

The three minors filmed the process of the bullying and uploaded the video to the internet. 

According to a statement from the local authorities, since the three who bullied Li are all minors, they were not punished by laws. 

According to the measures for handling student injury incidents, if underage students are responsible for injury incidents, their legal guardians shall bear the corresponding liability for compensation according to the laws. 

In cases of school bullying, the legal guardians of the perpetrators should bear corresponding legal responsibilities based on the seriousness of the harm. These regulations need to be implemented in each individual case, to increase the legal consequences for wrongdoers and strengthen the guardians’ disciplinary responsibilities.

After mediation, the families of the three minors and Li’s family reached a compensation agreement of 45,000 yuan ($6,152) to Li. 

Global Times