Reading about the recent, ongoing incidents of severe bullying in schools around China ("Severity of bullying a matter of record," Global Times, 2016/11/21), I am left baffled. The article describes the brutality and remorselessness of Chinese teenage bullies who humiliate their victims.
As an English teacher in Shanghai, I've worked in four different schools and have never once witnessed any bullying. I am aware that bullying is not always obvious, usually behind the scenes in bathrooms or after school. But among my 6-11-year-olds, most of what I have ever seen is genuine compassion.
In a primary school I worked at in Shanghai's Xujing suburb, the students all seemed quite kind toward each other. In circumstances where something embarrassing could have been said about another student, it simply didn't happen.
Culture is of course different in Shanghai than other parts of China. In my opinion, image and appearance are highly valued here. As much as this could incite bullying in less affluent regions, in a wealthy metropolis it acts as a deterrent.
Occasionally my students will very bluntly describe themselves or another as fat. "He is fat" or "because I'm fat" is a common refrain. In fact, just last week I conducted an English Corner during which I asked each student to say what they like and then what they don't like. As a joke one child, pointing to another, said "I don't like he;" he meant to say him, so I corrected his English and then asked why? The response was "because he is fat."
Where I come from, fat-shaming is pretty much considered bullying. As shocked as I was by this response, no one else, including the child being spoken about, seemed offended. Thus the very blunt nature of Chinese in regards to describing oneself and each other encourages a sort of acceptance and lack of shame.
Perhaps due to the lack of bullying in this city, Shanghai's educational system thus lacks preventative measures of bullying or meaningful punishments to the few who do. Yet there doesn't seem to exist any specialized assistance for mentally unstable children.
Many students in my classes have autism, but no specialized help is provided to them. This can potentially lead to bullying toward these children. However, I must say that it warmed my heart to notice that usually these special-need students are left unharassed by their peers, like some sort of subtle understanding between them. This can probably be attributed to a good upbringing by their parents.
Unfortunately, Chinese culture at times can exacerbate bullying in regards to their avoidance in "losing face." Just like rape, bullying too probably goes unreported due to the Chinese reluctance to shame someone else's reputation, even the person who just bullied or raped them. We as teachers and parents MUST make it clear to students that no amount of lost face can be worse than having videos of yourself stripped naked spread online.
From a cultural perspective, the tendency in China to not intervene in other people's affairs can also exacerbate bullying. Last year local Weblog Shanghaiist reported on a video showing a girl being attacked by five female classmates. I think one of the worst things to note here is that several other students were standing around watching and recording, but none stepped up to stop it.
In England, my home country, the average student or adult will immediately intervene if they witness another person being abused. Moreover, many schools in the UK now have strict deterrent policies in place. Our society does not have any concern about "losing face;" helping people is our priority, so we actually urge victims to come forward and expose their tormenters.
Nevertheless, it's promising to hear that change in China is on the horizon. Shanghai City News earlier this year reported that "education officials are squaring off against the city's school bullies." Indeed, new government measures were recently introduced at the local level to combat this issue. But as great as it will be for us to see schoolyard bullies finally being punished, especially in less developed areas of China where it is more rampant, the situation as a whole will never actually improve until Chinese society itself adapts.
