Violence (暴力) at schools has been widely reported in recent years. Hitting, slapping (打耳光) and burning others with cigarettes-the violence among teenagers has drawn public and government attention. On Nov 11, the government published a guideline (指导意见) on dealing with school violence.
The guideline stressed that students with serious behaviour problems should be taken to special schools. Or, in more serious cases, they may take criminal responsibility (刑事责任) and be sent to prison.
China has long been considered as too soft on teen offenders (犯事者), according to the People website. Criminal responsibility begins at the age of 14. Offenders under the age of 16 do not face serious punishment unless they do eight types of "serious" crimes such as murder.
This might partly explain why junior middle school students are the most common offenders in school violence cases. It's reported that they take up 33. 96 percent of the total while high school students take up 22. 64 percent.
"What also shocked us is how cruel (残忍的) some young offenders can be," said Shi Weizhong.
In school violence cases in Beijing during the last five years, 14 percent of the offenders not only beat others, but also insulted (侮辱) them. They slapped others, made them kneel down (下跪), and in some cases took off other people's clothes.
"The common tolerant (容忍的) attitude toward violence should be changed," wrote Jiaxing Daily. "When teenagers do something wrong, we should tolerate and help them when necessary. But all of this has a limit. "