China to address bullying to protect students

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02:35

The government will pay serious attention to bullying in schools with new laws in the near future. China's National People's Congress announced a large-scale revision for its Law on the Protection of Minors.

While no details are available yet, the revisions will address an issue that, in China, has not been given serious attention in recent years.

In the past, victims of bullying in schools were often left to deal with it in their own way. Some kids fought back and some told teachers. Many parents in China even brought their children to practice taekwondo for self-defense.

Six-year-old Sophia Li has been practicing taekwondo for several months. Her mother said Sophia needs to learn how to overcome fear.

"It's straightforward. If she has the ability to defend herself, then nobody will dare to hurt her," said, Li Li, Sophia's mother.

Li Li and her daughter Sophia at a taekowndo gymnasium. /CGTN Photo

Li said she trusts school staff when it comes to protecting students, but she is still worried.

"Juvenile attackers in previous cases have not gotten severe punishment," Li said, "I am not sure our laws can effectively deter campus bullying. Some cases are so minor that people dismiss them altogether."

Education on the law is underway. One school in central China's Henan province launched a specific class to raise safety awareness. Teachers used video and other multimedia tools to engage students.

More and more parents send their children to taekwondo classes to develop self-defense skills. /CGTN Photo

Topics included how to prevent fires or what to do during an earthquake. The issue of school bullying, however, seemed like a sensitive one.

"The challenge is how to help the students understand campus safety incidents that went viral on the internet. How do you alleviate fears about the incidents and at the same time raise their self-protection awareness?" said Yang Yujuan, a campus safety instructor at Wenhua Road No.1 Primary School in Zhengzhou.

The educational resources are limited in densely populated Henan Province. Students face a lot of pressure to survive in the competitive environment. Some parents said more attention goes to children's school work than campus safety.

Some Chinese primary schools pilot safety classes. /CGTN Photo

Law advisers vowed to place more responsibility on the government by revising the Law on the Protection of Minors.

"Currently, education sectors are in charge of managing campus bullying incidents. The cases are not dealt with at the legislative level. And that's why it's hard to get attention from society," Ma Jun, member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference wrote in an email to CGTN.

Ma said the country should enact a specific law to prevent bullying among minors. The future revisions could provide the changes that Ma has suggested.