Within 5 weeks, there were 5 school killings in China. All the victims are innocent primary and kindergarten school kids, while all the murderers are also victims of social injustice. The problem of the cold-blooded murders comes from society, but again, mainstream media are told not to further investigate the cases.
March 23, Zheng Minsheng in Nanping killed 8 primary school kids
April 12, a man in Hepu killed 8 primary school kids
April 28, a man in Leizhou stabbed 8 primary school kids
April 29, a man in Taixin stabbed 32 kindergarten kids
April 30, a man in Shandong Weifang beat up 5 students and burned himself to death.
ChinaSmack has translated some immediate reaction on the killing incidents. Many believe that kids have become the victims of revenge against social injustice and criticize the killers for attacking children instead of government officials. In fact, a photo has been circulating via the internet, then via e-mail upon deletion, showing a slogan put up by parents outside a kindergarten campus. It reads: Social injustice and debts have their origin, turn right and you can find the government building.
In the recent series pathetic killing incidents, the killers have chosen kindergartens and primary schools as their target. In the hearts of those who want to take revenge on society, killing school kids has become a fashion because they would face the least resistance, maximize the number they kill and create the greatest social panic. This is the most effective way to take revenge on society. Apart from Yang Jia, most killers have chosen the weak as their target. This society has no exit and killing the weak has turned into their only exit.
It's no wonder why the propaganda department very quickly asked news agencies and major websites to stop putting the news on the front page. Of course, there is the Shanghai expo factor as explained by Kai Pan in china/divide. However, is the government paying justice to the kids? Twocolds criticizes:
In the kindergarten killing of Taizhou, news was under control. All these kids were born and killed in a bad time. In the celebratory mood, their deaths become disruptive noise. All we know is that in the Taizhou kindergarten killing, 32 people were hurt. The government and the hospital stressed that no one had died but rumor said that a number of them were killed. Who should I believe? Let's believe our government, but then why they forbid the parent to see their kids?
Stan Abrams from china/divide sums up some social implications of the “revengeful act”, including mental illness, income gap and lack of control. However, Xu Zhiyong points out that the problem cannot be solved either through covering up or the strengthening of security control:
If the series of incidents only lead to the strengthening of social management technique, we will miss the opportunities for social transformation. There must be deeper social meaning in the incidents, if we refuse to admit that thing would be developed in the opposite direction. If we analyze the issue according to the 5 main characteristics of terrorism: 1. The social background of the killers are those who face force eviction, social injustice and lack of social security protection. All these problems magnified in the head of those with psychological problems. 2. The perpetrators have extreme character. If such cases keep recurring, it probably implies that the society is really sick. 3. The victims are the weakest people in the society. If a person is capable of directing his anger towards kindergarten kids, he has to “justify” it with some really big problem. 4. Shock – the fact that the incidents have turned into social panic has some underlying reasons. 5. Social integration – if a society avoid facing such big incident and lose the power to interpret the incident and integrate the society, it would probably reinforce the sentiment that brings about this tragedy. It is more tragic than the tragedy.