Chinese teens complain compulsory military training too difficult, but teachers say toughen up

A high school pupil in eastern China called the police to complain that compulsory military training was “too tiring”, but teachers say the teens need to toughen up, according to a local newspaper.

The police received a phone call from the pupil at Jiangsu Luhe Senior High School in Nanjing in Jiangsu province saying the instructor had made the training programme too difficult. “I’m already so exhausted and he’s still asking me to train,” the pupil, who asked to remain anonymous, was quoted as saying in the Nanjing Morning Post.

Pupils about to begin senior middle school and students preparing for their first year of university are required to undergo a week of military training before school starts – a tradition that dates back decades.

They must march, run laps and repeat military drills, often in hot weather.

According to the instructor, the pupils, who were in their mid-teens, were worse than children. 

“Even though young children have a short attention span, at least they have a serious attitude and obey orders,” an instructor was quoted as saying.