Forced to eat own vomit: Chinese boy, 6, fed sick by teacher for throwing up in class after eating too much causes uproar on social media
- Parents complain to school but denied access to surveillance footage
- In another 2017 case, preschool teacher used needles to discipline children
A mainland nursery teacher who forced a pupil to eat his own vomit on his sixth birthday has horrified online observers.
Surveillance video footage posted on social media showed her stuffing mushed-up food into his mouth after he had already finished his lunch. The boy had earlier thrown up chunks of pumpkin after having too much to eat.
His parents complained about the teacher, calling her actions child abuse. They said their child was sick because he was forced to eat the pumpkin on a full stomach.
The shocking incident happened on September 15, the boy’s birthday, at the Maluwan Kindergarten in northeastern China’s Liaoning province, his father, surnamed Zhang said.
Zhang said they dressed the boy in new clothes for his birthday, but when he came home his clothes were filthy.
They thought no more about it until the youngster revealed to his grandmother that the teacher had forced him to eat more food after lunch.
The parents immediately reported the incident to the nursery and asked several times to see the surveillance video, but did not get to view it until the police became involved.
On October 13, the local education bureau said on its official WeChat account that it had verified the case following an investigation.
It demanded the school apologise to the parents and dismiss the teacher. It also lowered the nursery’s ranking and suggested the principal overhaul its staffing system.
The bureau promised to carry out further investigation on other preschools in the district and to put an end to student abuse.
On Chinese social media, the scandal has renewed discussions over the qualifications of teachers.
In 2021, media reports highlighted the severe shortage of nursery school teachers in China, which was attributed to low pay and long working hours.
It is widely believed that young graduates with better academic achievements are reluctant to work as preschool teachers, which has led to the recruitment of less qualified staff.
In 2017, Beijing police received reports about a teacher at a preschool in the RYB Education chain, located in Chaoyang district, who was using needles to discipline the children.
The teacher, surname Liu, was given an 18-month prison sentence and banned from working with minors for five years.
In August, a teacher at a kindergarten in northeastern China was reported to have dragged her pupils on the floor and also beaten them. One parent said her child suffered a broken nose and became reluctant to go to school.
