China pupils, inspired by suspense novels, use chalk dust to crack code of classroom phone safe
‘Creative’ boarding school pupils subjected to official investigation, hit with ‘serious’ warnings; online observers praise their ingenuity
A group of suspense-novel-loving Chinese school pupils smeared chalk dust on the combination lock of a safe in their classroom to unlock it and retrieve their mobile phones.
Despite being disciplined by the school, many netizens were left amused and praised their creativity.
A disciplinary notice issued by the secondary school in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, southern China, on December 10, has gone viral online.
It said that on November 14, a pupil surnamed Tian from Class 13, Grade 10, had been inspired by the plot of a suspense novel to smear chalk dust on the surface of the class phone locker’s password dial in an attempt to detect fingerprints and decipher the code.
The title of the novel was not disclosed.