What’s trending?

A new Ministry of Education regulation specifies forms of punishment for education-related misdeeds, marking the first time for such regulation. The new policy, which will allow teachers to impose such punishments as forcing students to copy text and stand in the classroom, will come into effect on March 1. The hashtag #educational-punishment-can-be-implemented-when-necessary# has been viewed over 140 million times on Weibo.

What’s the story?

The new regulation states that “Schools and teachers should use appropriate and specified methods to discipline students who misbehave.”

It categorized three levels of punishment depending on the violation, ranging from verbal warnings to suspensions. The regulation also prohibits educators from using physical violence and verbal insults.

In China, it is common for teachers and schools to punish students when they make mistakes. But improper punishment has also led to tragedy in the past. In September, an elementary school pupil from Sichuan died after her teacher physically “punished” her by hitting her head and forcing her to kneel. The news caused an earthquake on Chinese social media as netizens argued about the legitimacy of teachers punishing students. Related hashtags were viewed more than 480 million times.

What are people saying online?

Some Chinese social media users are all for such discipline and its regulation. “There are some kids who won’t learn discipline with words alone. Punishment is a must,” read one popular comment.

Others said education should be punishment-free. One Weibo user said that “You couldn’t teach students how to behave so you use the power that the kids don’t have to regulate them? The only thing you will get from this kind of education is a kid who doesn’t dare to challenge the authority and who hates the educational system.”

People on the internet also found it difficult and subjective to define “necessary or not.” A Weibo user commented that “teachers are not saints; they make mistakes too. What if they punish the kids wrongly?”