In Depth: The Teething Problems of China’s Schools for Troubled Students

One day in February 2021, Xiaoze, a junior high school student in East China’s Jiangxi province, saw an unattended cell phone on a local basketball court, and thought that he could use a phone of his own.

It wasn’t long after snatching the device that a teacher discovered the theft. The teacher called Xiaoze’s parents and convinced them to take the boy to the police. The officers then learned that in the past he had stolen multiple items, worth enough to warrant opening a criminal case.