The perpetrator fled, and the victim apologized in return——Exposing the behind-the-scenes of the “Civilized Campus”
On September 29, 2024, a first-grade girl at Ruyuan Rucheng Town Central Primary School in Shaoguan, Guangdong, was pouring water at school when a senior male student offered to help unscrew the lid, then poured boiling water on the girl, causing burns to her face, chest, and thighs. After the incident, the school staff did not send her to the hospital immediately, delaying the best treatment time for the girl.
Faced with such a heinous assault, the local education bureau’s response was: “The boy involved was only engaging in a temporary prank on the injured child, not an intentional or malicious act.” Openly defending the perpetrator and calling the school bullying that nearly caused severe disability “a prank” sparked strong dissatisfaction from the girl’s father. He used platforms like Douyin to amplify public opinion and also hoped that the public security authorities would give his daughter justice.
This incident immediately drew widespread public attention. The government of Zhongxiu, fearing the escalation of the situation and a larger political movement that could shake their already shaky rule, quickly intervened. To limit the development of the incident, the Zhongxiu government suddenly appeared in the guise of a righteous official.
On October 15, the Zhongxiu government announced an investigation into “corrupt officials,” claiming to hold twelve management personnel accountable and dismiss three of them. Meanwhile, they acknowledged the problem and actively mediated. The public security department issued a verdict, citing the “Minor Protection Law,” which has protected countless rapists and murderers in reserve, stating that even malicious harm by minors under fourteen would not result in administrative punishment, only economic compensation. They announced that the victim received 320,000 RMB in compensation on October 15.
However, does such “serious accountability” have any real impact on these officials? What about the dismissals—who will take their place? What punishments will they face? These details were not publicly reported by the government. Compensation is expected, but the Zhongxiu government muddles right and wrong, using the so-called “Minor Protection Law” to openly shield the perpetrator, attempting to quench public anger with cold cash.
Meanwhile, the official media, such as the Central Radio Network, also stepped in. They praised the school [1] and the government for their “quick response,” claiming that “after the incident, Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County quickly established a working team to treat the injured and investigate the incident. According to the attending doctor, after treatment, the girl’s skin wounds are healing well, her mental state is good, and she is expected to be discharged soon and gradually resume normal life and study,” “During treatment, the school arranged two teachers to accompany her in the hospital, and the burn department collaborated with psychologists for consultation and assessment, providing psychological counseling and ongoing mental health follow-up.” They portrayed the otherwise passive Zhongxiu government and school as actively involved in resolving the issue and caring for the victim. On the other hand, they also reported that “the boy’s mother bowed and apologized,” beautifying the perpetrator’s side. They shamelessly filmed the victim girl making V-signs on her bed, and by reporting the girl’s recovery, they blurred the facts and downplayed the severity of the incident. Other media outlets even baselessly claimed that both parties had reached a settlement. All these efforts aim to portray this incident, which exposed the rotten Nazi-style education system, as a positive example of government and school intervention, mediation, and the perpetrator’s active apology and compensation—an ideal class reconciliation story.
However, the cunning of the Zhongxiu government failed. The girl’s father was not intimidated by Nazi lies or media censorship; he refused monetary compensation. He documented his fight in real-time and publicly condemned the so-called “Minor Protection Law,” asking, “The person who poured boiling water is protected, but who will protect her?” He even went to the school to smash the campus safety sign, further exposing that the so-called “peaceful campus” promoted by the Zhongxiu government is merely a paradise for social hooligans in reserve.
At this point, a strange event occurred. On the evening of November 11, two weeks after the girl returned to school, her father found a threatening letter in her schoolbag: “If you post your daughter’s accountability video on Douyin again, your whole family will have a hard time.” Furious, the girl’s father immediately reported to the public security department of Zhongxiu and publicly protested in the school group, questioning, “What the hell is your school doing? Are you bullying people? What’s going on?” Yet, the Zhongxiu public security department, despite the case of the threatening letter making no progress, insisted that the girl’s father apologize publicly for his justified questioning in the school group.
Who wrote this letter? Why did the Zhongxiu police, who once portrayed themselves as righteous officials, suddenly “change face”? Based on the previous analysis, it’s not hard to judge. The perpetrator’s side did not appear from beginning to end, and even if they did, they showed no obvious or direct hostility toward the girl’s father’s resistance and public opinion. The party that has been forced to participate in problem handling, limit public opinion, and even fabricate lies to deceive the people has always been the Zhongxiu government department. Therefore, it’s understandable why the police focused not on investigating the threatening letter but on warning the girl’s father.
A few days after this incident, the girl’s father deleted the video criticizing the Zhongxiu campus safety and released a new video on November 19, withdrawing his previous active stance and saying he wanted to return to normal life. This, in turn, is an admission of the Zhongxiu government’s own guilt.
The girl’s father’s fight failed, and the Zhongxiu government was proud, thinking they had successfully maintained their reactionary rule through this carrot-and-stick approach. But this only planted the seeds of hatred. The unity and cooperation among the reactionaries made more workers realize that the Zhongxiu government, education bureau, public security, media, and others are nothing but reactionary organs prioritizing suppressing the people.
The oppression of Confucianism in schools and families, the social environment corrupted by spiritual opium and moral decay among campus hooligans, and the government’s control of public opinion and use of force constitute the mountains over Chinese youth’s heads. Today, in Chinese schools, students’ safety is no longer guaranteed. The Zhongxiu government believes that through such reactionary education methods and cooperation with state machinery, they can create a group of social hooligans serving their suppression purposes and a generation of slaves who dare not resist and obey Zhongxiu’s rule. But this is mere wishful thinking. The reactionary acts of the Zhongxiu government only expose themselves, making the working people more aware that without overthrowing the Zhongxiu government, there is no future for Chinese youth or the Chinese nation.
[1] However, it is laughable that the school’s response to this incident was not to actively address and reflect on their moral education and management issues but to evade the problem: “The usual temperature setting of the direct drinking water machine is 40 degrees, but on the day of the incident, the machine malfunctioned, and the water temperature rose abnormally,” “When the report was first received, the teachers did not realize the severity of the situation, thinking it was just a usual warm water play.” Even if the school’s explanation is that it was an accident, the nature of the incident remains campus bullying. The school’s indifference to campus bullying is also a key reason why the girl missed the best treatment time.
Central Radio Network: https://news.cnr.cn/dj/20241016/t20241016_526942093.shtml
Jimu News: https://www.ctdsb.net/c1716_202411/2301674.html
NetEase News: https://www.163.com/dy/article/JGVJS0CP0534A4SC.html
Sina News: https://finance.sina.cn/2024-11-14/detail-incvzmwq1265075.d.html
Victim’s father’s Douyin account: https://www.douyin.com/user/MS4wLjABAAAAwz-7HaEevixopE-RYl_1DIItII3ds4F8T_OBFJSPceg?from_tab_name=main&relation=0&vid=7434840864985206053