Stop bullying, nip violence in the bud

The news that a junior high school student was brutally murdered by three classmates March 10 sent shudders through the Chinese public, drawing attention to the issues of campus bullying and the challenges faced by left-behind children in rural areas.

Wang Ziyao, 13, lived with his paternal grandparents in Feixiang District, Handan City, Hebei Province. He was a “timid and introverted kid” according to his father, a divorcee working away from their hometown.

It remains unclear whether the three suspects, now in police custody, will be prosecuted under criminal law. According to current law, those between the ages of 12 and 14 will be held liable only when they have committed a serious crime, such as murder, and with approval from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. While the U.K. and many U.S. states maintain that those aged 10 and above can be prosecuted by criminal law, minors under 12 will be exempt in China.

Data from the Supreme Prosecutor shows that 97,000 juvenile crimes went through prosecution in 2023, of which about 10,000 were committed by minors under 16. Holding young perpetrators liable certainly helps to deter crimes to a certain degree, but it’s more relevant to nip violence in the bud and create a safer environment for our young.

The tragedy is heartbreaking because both the victim and the murderers are at such a tender age. Many of their peers are surrounded by love and care from parents, yearning for the myriad possibilities that life can offer.

This case was especially violent. Wang's face was hit repeatedly with a shovel to the point that he was completely disfigured. His remains were hastily buried in a vegetable shed after the crime was committed. It was also horrifying to learn from Chinese media reports that the three perpetrators acted as if nothing had happened when they were first interviewed by the police. The mastermind continued to play video games and provided officers with misleading information.

Relatives later provided insight into the senseless crime: Wang had long suffered bullying from these three classmates to the extent that he occasionally expressed reluctance to go to school. Obviously, the parents and teachers didn’t take the bullying seriously.

Children and adolescents may engage in occasional physical confrontations, but most do not develop a sustained pattern of violent behavior or engage in violent crime. Despite ongoing interest in the possibility of a relationship between violent behavior and genetic defects or chromosomal anomalies, there is minimal evidence for such a relationship.

However, previous studies have associated several risk factors with violent behavior, including intense corporal punishment, the use of alcohol and other substances, gang involvement, developmental issues, and poverty. When bullying involves three or more perpetrators, caution must be taken to prevent it from developing into something more serious.

In urban schools, psychological health sessions have been incorporated into school curriculum and campus psychiatrists are always available to speak with students. However, in rural schools that have fewer resources, children, many of whom are entrusted to the care of grandparents and need psychological intervention more urgently, have no one to reach out to for help. Victims often tell no one about being bullied because of feelings of helplessness or shame and a fear of retaliation. Bullies, on the other hand, act to inflate their sense of self-worth. Bullying gives them feelings of power and control. Many also blackmail their victims for money and other personal property.

All four children involved in the case are left-behind children who lacked parental guidance in their upbringing. This situation is reminiscent of Chen Guilin, the protagonist of a popular crime thriller titled “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon.” Chen, a charming gangster, was also brought up by his grandmother. Grandparents tend to dote on their grandchildren and seldom have the energy or knowledge to guide young ones.

This incident was a process that saw bullying evolve into murder. The families and schools of the four were negligent. They failed to detect and stop the bullying when it is a “minor offence.”

When bullying persists for a long period of time, it will encourage the aggressiveness of the perpetrators and increase the chance of them committing more serious crimes.

Had there been a system for reporting bullying and taking restrictive measures against the perpetrators at rural schools, such a tragedy could have been avoided.

(The author is a Features editor of Shenzhen Daily.)