Cloudy in Beijing Blogging about my time in China

School violence

In the past weeks, the hot topic in China has been a series of student killings at the country's elementary schools.

Since March, there have been at least five attacks involving lone men usually hacking to death children at a nearby school. The latest attack centered on a merchant who killed seven kindergarten students.

Now everyone is trying to understand why these copycat killings happened. The attacks have usually involved unemployed single men, who for whatever reason, felt the need to take their frustrations on the society's most innocent individuals. Some have described it as the result of growing poverty  sending people over the edge, while others have linked it to the lack of services for people with mental health problems. Taking some flak is the government, which has been accused by pundits for doing little to stem the problem.

In the meantime, security at elementary schools in the country has increased. At one school near where I live, guards with white helmets stood outside the gates during the early mornings. Now suddenly what should be one of the safest places for children has become a target for random acts of violence. It's unthinkable that a danger like this could exist. But obviously, something hideous is lurking deep in China's changing society and we are all struggling to understand it.