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A teacher stabbed 26 times by his favorite student
On 12 November 2017, a 47-year-old high school teacher Bao was stabbed to death by his favourite 16-year-old student, LuoJun in Hunan Province, China.
Teaching has become a dangerous profession as it was reported that ten similar cases happened in the past ten years.
I feel sorry for teacher Bao, who took care of students as much as his children. In summer, he bought them drinks; when students got sick, he made ginger tea.
I also feel sad for his daughter, a classmate of the murderer can never see his beloved father.
In a traditional Chinese way, Bao is such a responsible and respectable teacher, who has contributed the whole life to the students.
He held a dream that one day his students could enter into the most reputable Uni, then he will be very proud of himself, that’s the value he brings to the society.
The murderer was an average student; after LuoJun joined teacher Bao, he studied extremely hard and then became the best student in the class.
All students and teachers considered him as polite; he used to call elders brothers.
His mum was shocked, she couldn’t believe the son could be a killer, but it was the reality.
Luo Jun studied in a kind of boarding school; there are only two days off a month, and the three-hour break from 3:50 pm to 6:50 pm each Sunday.
The day, LuoJun made a plan of shopping in the town, but teacher Bao requested students to watch a motivational video and then write a review during the break.
LuoJun was not happy at all, so he talked to the teacher for the concern: he’s not interested in writing a 500-word essay regarding the video.
Teacher Bao got angry and told him, “There are only two choices, either write as requested or go for a normal class.”
Before that, LuoJun was criticised many times for not being a student of getting desirable scores as teacher Bao expected.
I would not make a judgment about the behaviour of the teacher, I trust he is in favour of his students, and that’s the limitation of Chinese education system due to the large population with the insufficient number of students who can access to the best Uni.
However, I reckon a teacher is supposed to give a student freedom to do what he loves in spare time.
There’s a goal for students in an advanced class of year-12: study hard, get high marks and enter into a famous Uni, then a student will have the better life.
It was Sunday afternoon, the only 3- hour break students have each week, but the teacher occupied the time to motivate them to study harder.
There’s no doubt that Bao is generous by scarifying his leisure time for the students to have a successful life in the future.
However, a student is a human being rather than a study machine; he needs time resting.
In my memory, the time I studied very hard in the Uni, on Fridays, I had to go shopping for the week because I could no longer concentrate on the books.
I would lose attention and be very inefficient without a break.
Therefore, I don't think it was reasonable Bao made an additional plan to persuade students to do a teacher like in the limited time as if a student is a slave: you must listen to me, I am your master.
Giving a student freedom to master time management skill is also essential; a student will have the competitive advantage in the job market than someone who only knows how to cope with exams.
I am sure Bao is an excellent teacher as he has the passion for teaching and has put significant effort and massive time for students to realise the teacher's dream.
On the other hand, Bao didn’t respect the dreams of his students.
He believed a reputable Uni including a big company which guarantees good salary is the symbol of success.
If one fails at the first stage, the student will live the life of poor and desperate.
However, Bao does not understand and care about the real dream of a student; the world is changing; a successful, happy life is no longer the way people think about it.
All roads lead to Rome, if a student is not enthusiastic about what he’s doing, no matter how lucky he is entering into a Fortune 500 company in the future, he won’t enjoy it and do his best.
It is reported that LuoJun prefers to go to a less popular Uni as he’s fascinated about Manga, the average students in the class spend 100CNY (AUD20) a week, but he saved money by using 20CNY (AUD4) sothat he could afford to buy Manga books.
Probably LuoJun will be much happier if he does what he likes, get less stressed in academic study and pursue his passion, no one knows, he might get a professional job in Manga industry.
But in China, the best student like LuoJun has to maintain high academic scores the same level in the class.
Otherwise, the teachers and parents will criticize him as an incapable student, absolutely, he would not have the courage to continue his life if he is transferred from an advanced class to an average one.
LuoJun would be under tremendous pressure even from his classmates, so he has only one choice: study hard by giving up his dream.
If I am in that situation, I will also be desperate.
LuoJun is only 16-year-old, he has just started life, but there’s no hope, and there’s no life for him.
No one gave him a hand; if someone has listened to his heart and gave him advice, LuoJun might not have taken the risk.
It seems there’s a gap between the traditional Chinese teacher and the young student who is influenced by cartoons, movies or books; he wants to be himself.
From Chinese media, most people praised Gao and criticised LuoJun as a horrible student who has no moral standard and doesn't know how to appreciate a respectable teacher.
But the daughter of Gao forgives LuoJun who is her classmate; she said: “I don’t hate LuoJun, as long as he does not do anything harmful to the others.”
What a lovely girl!!! Probably she knows about Nelson Mandela who said:
“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.”
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