Teacher Scolds Class for Not Giving a Gift on Teachers’ Day

From Phoenix Online and NetEase:

High School Teacher Scolds Class For An Entire Hour After Not Receiving Gifts on Teachers’ Day

Over the past few days, information has been circulating on Weixin/WeChat about Yilan County Senior High School Grade 2 Class 17 head teacher Feng Qunchao scolding her students for an entire class hour because they had not bought presents for her on Teachers’ Day. Do you believe such a thing? As verified by the Yilan County Education Bureau, what circulated on WeChat is true. In response to teacher Feng Qunchao demanding presents for Teacher’s Day, they have decided after consideration to revoke her position as head teacher, stop her teacher assignments, and give her a serious demerit on her administrative record.

The following text is transcribed from the Longshi City Channel’s Nightly News program’s report.

Disrespecting me? How are you going to make this up to me?

Yilan County Senior High School Grade 2 Class 17 parent: My child came home and told me what happened, that the moment she entered the classroom, she had ordered one of the students outside. Then, the first thing she did entering the classroom was to throw the lesson plan on the desk saying, “you all go think about how you’re going to make this up to me.”

Zhang Li says that although she felt what the teacher did was inappropriate, she didn’t really take it seriously, until the next day, when she heard a recording on WeChat that was allegedly of [the teacher scolding her class at the time].

The recording: Do you not know what to do? Why don’t we vote for a new class monitor and see if they know what to do? I need someone who knows what to do, who can maintain discipline for me. Why are you so ignorant, so shameless? So the class monitor of other classes pooled money together but our class doesn’t? Are you taking me seriously/respecting me? So I’m only secondary, is it? Tell me, how am I supposed to explain this, when gifts were purchased for all the other teachers of other classes, but my class didn’t. You tell me how embarrassing this is. 10 kuai, 20 kuai, you aren’t so poor that you can’t afford that. Hurry and elect a [new] class monitor for me now. Let’s see who is deserves it. Anyone who’s capable of organizing will do, who can be counted on to not drop the ball. Why so stupid?

Yilan County Senior High School Grade 2 Class 17 parent: Because the class monitor didn’t organize the students to buy presents for her, she called the class monitor incompetent. So because no presents were bought for her, there was no organization of the students.

Poor, stingy, and shameless?

As the students students set about to reelect a class monitor, the mouth on this head teacher didn’t give it a rest, instead continuing to scold her students, every so often letting out dirty language not befitting her role as a teacher.

Recording: Hurry and elect someone. How can you be so insensible? You all forgot? Bullshit, you all forgot. How come the other class monitors didn’t forget? Weren’t the other class teachers all given gifts? And if they weren’t there, weren’t their presents left on their desks? Don’t you all know? How can you all be so inhuman? So poor, stingy, so shameless?

You bunch of useless garbage, not even worth a dog’s fart when it matters

In the recording, the teacher repeatedly emphasized electing a sensible [responsible, knows what ought to be done] class monitor, and as she went on, she came even more agitated, her dirty language escalating.

Recording: Poor, stingy, shameful, what do I need you bunch of useless garbage for? When you aren’t even worth a dog’s fart when it matters. Worrying about you all when you all don’t even know a dog’s fart, a bunch of useless rubbish. What a joke, every day you are so clever but when it matters, you drop the ball? Such fucking bullshit. Who owes you, that I have to be so fucking good to you all?

The students immediately pooled money together to buy a present for the teacher

Yilan County Senior High School Grade 2 Class 17 parent: With the teacher so furious, the students immediately pooled their money together on the spot. Fishing out 3 kuai or 5 kuai each, they pooled together about 400 yuan, and when combined with over 200 yuan added for the class fee, there was a total of over 600 yuan, which the children used to buy presents.

Comments on Phoenix Online:

凤凰网宁夏网友：中秋之梦

It should be strictly forbidden for teachers to accept any gifts from students. Some teachers don’t teach properly in class, in order to collect fees for private tutoring, and making things difficult for anyone who doesn’t go to them [for private tutoring].

[Note: Some teachers in China have been accused of relying on more lucrative private tutoring gigs to supplement their income, leading to suspicions that they are may do a poor job in class to increase parents’ demand for their out-of-classroom tutoring services.]

凤凰网中国网友：微笑8888

Teachers accepting gifts is extremely common. They are eroding the mental and physical health of our children and teenagers!! These engineers of the human soul need a lesson in educator ethics!! If this isn’t done soon, it will affect China’s future!!

凤凰网四川省网友：手机用户

This kind of person should be expelled from the teaching ranks, lest they [negatively] influence the next generation of people.

凤凰网浙江省温州市网友：wwsr428

The punishment is too light. Shouldn’t she be fired from the teaching staff? According to what she said, other classes had all given the teachers presents, so how should that be dealt with? Isn’t it now stipulated that accepting gifts for any reason is forbidden?

凤凰网山东省青岛市网友：手机用户

Are there any teachers left that don’t accept presents nowadays? You can’t even give too little, and it’s the same everywhere. Teachers are all obsessed with fishing for money now, so how can they be expected to teach class properly?! The tragedy of the Chinese education system.

凤凰网广东省网友：手机用户

This is why the vocation I hate the most are teachers. It’s just an occupation. I don’t believe there’s anyone taking the post as a teacher because he or she wants to be a model of virtue for others. It’s just a job like any other.

凤凰网北京市网友：手机用户

This kind of teacher isn’t fit to be a model [for the youth], and should be expelled from the ranks of teachers.

凤凰网山东省网友：white638

Teachers these days are simply money-grubbing animals. If they don’t get money, then your child is going to be punished at school. The result? Raising corrupt officials.

凤凰网湖南省常德市网友：过江龙68

Teaching is also just an occupation; teachers are also offering labor just like people in all trades and professions. Since there is already a Labor Day, why should there be a “Teachers’ Day” specifically for teachers? Why is the teaching profession a notch higher than others? I appeal for the cancellation of “Teachers’ Day”, ding if you agree!

凤凰网吉林省长春市网友：WZXWZX790421

Be careful with what you say. Not all teachers are like what you think. [For example] Our head teacher spent his own money to buy a USB stick for his [subject-specific] teachers, so they could use them to download exercises to help us, for which we were very grateful to the teacher. After graduating, we went to invite the teacher to a meal, and he even ended up paying the bill. Moreover, what’s wrong with students buying some small presents for their teacher? Our teacher used his own money to buy us ice cream quite a few times. I even remember once when some students fell ill, and after exhausting all the money on his medical insurance card, he then even took out over 300 of his own cash. He was with us every day as we learned. Are teachers not worthy of your respect? Everyone, let’s look at the problem objectively. The way I see it, the Yilan County Senior High School Grade 2 Class 17 head teacher is not necessarily a bad person and may just be embarrassed [as a teacher who didn’t get any presents]. Let’s all be kinder [with our words]!

凤凰网上海市网友：xxnmrwx

Listening to the recording, it sounds like the students of all the other classes had given their teachers Teachers’ Day gifts, to express their appreciation, while the students of this head teacher’s class didn’t, so she finds it hard to face her colleagues and is embarrassed. She’s probably not angry that her students didn’t get her gifts, but is just too too concerned with appearances [how she looks in front of the other teachers]. So, we should understand her anger appropriate. As a head teacher, the way you treat your own students is [often] like how you treat your own children, so when it comes how they treat people, she expects her students to be sensible [thoughtful, considerate] and know what should be done. That’s what she expects of her students, and that’s where her anger comes from. However, she forgot one thing: she may treat her students as if they are her own children, but her students may not feel the same way. She really was too earnest and thought too much of their relationship to her. In this fickle era when nobody trusts each other, one really shouldn’t expect too much of others. This should also be a lesson for others who expect too much of others.

Note: The image above is illustrative and not related to news story.