Eye on China: Terrorism in the School Yard

“I have no hatred for the students I stabbed. I chose them only because they were weak and vulnerable. I wanted to have a big influence on the public.” This statement was taken from the confession of Zheng Minsheng, 42, a former community clinic doctor who on March 23 stabbed to death 8 primary school children in Nanping, Fujian province. Zheng was executed a month later and, although not the first, his brutal attack has tragically become a bloody catalyst, sparking a string of copycat crimes across the country.

Zheng’s statement seems to pinpoint the two main contributing factors to these crimes, power and societal revenge. Although the maniacal intentions of men who murder children can never be fully realized by a public, some underlining consistencies can and should be used as a method of prevention. Professor Zhu Li of Nanjing University’s School of Social and Behavioral Sciences commented that “Some adults will target weak children instead of people more powerful than themselves as a way to vent frustration.”

In a recent study conducted by the Beijing Suicide Research and Prevention Center 17.5 percent of people in China suffer from some sort of mental illness; that percentage significantly increases when you look at individuals over the age of 40. All of the school attacks have been perpetrated by men in their mid to late 40s. A deficiency of treatment facilities as well as a general lack of knowledge surrounding these disorders can lead to community devastation, like attacks against defenseless children.

No matter in what country, the death of a child is felt in the heart of a community. It is a striking blow that could cripple any family, especially in China where most families are only legally allowed to have one child. The increased protection of children across the nation will be no minor task for the Chinese Government. The extra security measures will also have to be put in place by schools, and parents. Information should be available for those parents and teachers who, on a daily basis, place their trust inside the walls of a school. What measures are being taken to protect the schools? What is the procedure if something should happen? These are just 2 of the many questions that should be demanded an answer of. One question that should be in the mind of everyone is what is the likelihood of future attacks?

In the past several decades China has seen an incomparable amount of change; a once isolated society has been catapulted into the forefront of a global community. A rift between the classes grows bigger each year, the wealth of a nation lining the pockets of a small percentage, while the poor become more and more marginalized. At a stoplight on a busy street a sleek black Mercedes Benz waits for the light to change as a man peddling a 3 wheeler box car hollers out for your spare, unwanted goods. The division of a society, thrust together. China is rising with the tides of change, but the streets are lined with the many treading water just to stay afloat.

This is a situation that has become a fatal one. The stresses and failures of this society have led to a string of unimaginable brutality, acts of terrorism against a nation. These men preyed on innocent children in school, a place that should be, in some manner of speaking, a sanctuary. Education is a right these children deserve and to make learning institutions places of fear will have a negative and regressionary effect on society.

Too many precious lives have been lost; too many parents will no longer hold the hand, see the smile or hear the laugh of their child, but there is hope. Hope that this tragic string of attacks will stop, hope that more can be done in the form of prevention and protection, hope that a nation can recognize a growing dissention and address the need for more support on every level. To look into the eyes of children as they learn is to see the hope of a nation, everything that can be done to protect them, and that hope, is not enough if even one more life is lost in this cycle of cruelty.