Job Discussion Forums

[Norman Bethune]

I have often wondered why Chinese parents don't share with parents in the west the same fear about their Children's safety while at school. People walk in and out of my classes all the time. I lock the door. They knock and disturb the class and usually a student will open it against my wishes. Then someone I don't know strolls in, takes a look at the foreigner, says something in Chinese to my students, followed by a nod of the Head in my direction and the words "Ta Ting Bu dong" and a silly laugh as the person leaves.

Chinese School adminstrators when I have broached the subject of security and safety usually just a give a blank stare. I'm surprized what happenned today doesn't happen more frequently when a disgruntled parent wants to complain about little Zhou only getting 99 percent instead of 100 percent in English class.

From Today's news (August 4, 2004)

BEIJING (Reuters) - A doorman at a kindergarten in the Chinese capital, Beijing, went on a rampage on Wednesday, stabbing 15 children and two teachers, the official Xinhua news agency said.
One child died, while one child and one teacher sustained serious neck wounds and were in critical condition, Xinhua quoted hospital sources as saying.

Police detained Xu Heping, 51, after the stabbings, Xinhua said. His motives were unclear, it said.

� Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.



[Man Slashes 15 Children, Kills 1 in China




By STEPHANIE HOO
Associated Press Writer

August 4, 2004, 2:54 AM EDT

BEIJING -- A gatekeeper at a Beijing kindergarten slashed 15 students and three teachers with a kitchen knife Wednesday, killing one child and leaving others "covered in blood," police and news reports said.

Two other children suffered "serious injuries" at the school affiliated with Peking University in the Chinese capital, according to a statement by the Beijing police.

State media initially said 16 children were hurt but later lowered that 15 without explanation.

The suspected attacker was in police custody, police and the official Xinhua News Agency said. They identified him as Xu Heping, a 51-year-old gatekeeper at the school, and said he used a vegetable knife.

Authorities received reports that a man had been "hacking people up at the kindergarten," the Web site Sina.com said.

Officers were sent to the scene within a minute and arrested the man, police said.

Citing a reporter at the hospital, Xinhua said the children were "covered in blood and looked terrified."

"Thirteen of the children had light injuries but their heads were bound with bloody bandages," Xinhua said.

The kindergarten is run by the hospital of Peking University, one of China's most prominent universities.

A woman who answered the phone at the university president's office said she did not have any details and wouldn't give her name.

Telephones at the local police station were not answered.

Copyright � 2004, The Associated Press

[Roger]

You have got a good point there!
We are privy to a number of potentially disastrous things the CHinese prefer to put their silly heads in sand about!
But make no mistake - if any child comes to grief through your derelction of duties you will be made to pay!