Researchers with the Supreme People's Court (SPC) have called for stronger measures to deal with campus violence and school bullying.
An SPC group on judicial protection of the rights for women and children studied 100 randomly selected cases of on-campus violence from 2013-2015.
In China, criminal liability begins at the age of 14. In their report, the rights group stated that of 159 defendants under the age of 18, two thirds were over 16 years old with the remainder 14-16.
Defendants under the age of 16 can only be charged with eight stipulated crimes in China, including murder, rape and drug trafficking. Since very few incidences of bullying in schools involve such serious offences, the sample may not reflect the real situation in the school yard
Among 35 cases that resulted in the death of the victim, eight drew non-custodial sentences, 17 received less than 10 years imprisonment and the remaining 10 were subject to sentences longer than 10 years.
The report pointed out a lack of awareness and understanding of campus violence and the harm it does. Juvenile offenders in some serious cases are subject to more lenient sentences, leading to insufficient protection for victims.
Children under 14 who commit intentional homicide or those under 16 who engage in acts of violence may escape punishment entirely due to omissions and loopholes in the current legal regime. The report called for improved legislation with appropriate punitive measures for all juvenile criminals .
More should be done by authorities and the public to raise awareness of the problem and to monitor, detect and intervene in school violence.
