A majority of students polled in a recent survey reported experiencing or witnessing school violence, with experts warning of the negative impact of the Internet on minors.
The survey showed 73.3 percent of 1,002 participants nationwide came across school bullying, whether verbal or physical. Around 54.3 percent of those polled said the number of cases being reported has been on the rise recently.
In an interview with China Youth Daily, Miao Weiming, an expert specializing in juvenile delinquency studies with East China University of Political Science and Law, suggested that in addition to increasing in number, school violence has been escalating in cruelty and randomness.
"The virtual nature of the Internet has freed people from the restriction of social conduct. Immersing in online games filled with killing for long periods of time, juveniles, with a cloudy understanding of morals, tend to use violence for power in real life," said Miao.
"It is not only the so-called 'bad' students who should be blamed for this situation. Teachers and parents who neglect children's education must take their due responsibility," user "Nini-baobei" said on microblog Sino Weibo.
According to the survey, 50.9 percent of respondents agreed that parents and schools should take joint actions to better prevent children from bullying or being bullied.
Wang Qi, a vice principal of Beijing Wenhui High School, told China Youth Daily that parents and teachers should show more care and patience toward children who are prone to violence so as to teach them respect and to discern good from bad through simple things in daily life. At the same time, it is equally crucial to teach children how to properly protect themselves from and deal with school bullying.
Recently, a string of violent incidents involving minors has raised the public's attention.
Last month, a video posted online allegedly showed several teenagers burning a first-grade boy with cigarettes in east China's Zhejiang Province.
In early May, media reported that a pupil from central province of Anhui tried to extort money from his classmates and forced anyone who disobeyed him to drink urine.
