Bullying breaks out again in Taoyuan! The video of a junior high school student intimidating and beating him in a temple went viral. The Education Bureau responded.

A few months ago, six uniformed high school and junior high school students in Zhongli District, Taoyuan City, were involved in bullying, forcing teenagers to kneel down in front of a palace temple, and causing a public outcry. A similar case was also reported at a junior high school in the Southern District. Parents complained on the social platform that the seventh-grade boys were suspected of using the palace temple and external influence to intimidate and bully their classmates for a long time. They were not only suspected of beating the ninth-grade senior of the same school, but also forcibly taking off their classmates' pants and verbal threats. Related violence videos were circulated in student communication groups, causing panic.

The Taoyuan City Education Bureau stated today (10th) that after the school learned of the students' off-campus conflicts, it has completed the report and notified parents and the police. Subsequent actions will be handled in accordance with the school bullying prevention guidelines.

Parents accused the male student of frequenting local temples and bullying his classmates in school for a long time because of his support from temple leaders and people outside the school. Since the beginning of the school year, many students have been subject to verbal bullying and harassment. When someone tries to resist or ask the teacher for help, they are even threatened with "If you dare to speak, I will ask the gangsters outside to beat you" and "If you dare to speak, you will be dead." This makes the victimized students fearful and dare not seek help from outside.

The student also uploaded a video of beating a ninth-grade senior to a student communication group. In the video, the senior was forced to stand and did not dare to fight back, while the senior repeatedly punched the abdomen. Related videos circulated among students, causing panic. In addition to causing panic, incidents such as damaging public property, yelling at teachers, beating seniors outside the school, and even forcing students to take off their pants in public occurred one after another in the school. It was believed that the relevant behavior was not just a fight among students, but may involve bullying and sexual harassment.

Parents question that when faced with suspected involvement of outside forces and ongoing bullying incidents, schools mostly use soft persuasion and counseling education to deal with them, which makes it difficult to effectively curb inappropriate behavior. Some students were worried about retaliation after reporting the incident, and had to hide even when filling out the incident statement. They were afraid of being discovered by other students, which made the victimized students afraid to speak out.

In this regard, Lai Yinkui, deputy director of the Education Bureau, said that after the school received the relevant video provided by the tutor to the parents on November 5, it immediately held an emergency response meeting. The school completed the school security report in the morning and filed a report with the police station in the afternoon, asking the police to help maintain student safety and deal with the problem of the distribution of the video. The school also invited the main caregivers and mothers of the injured students to the school for interviews, and contacted the parents of the students involved to request joint efforts to restrain the students' behavior.

Lai Yinkui emphasized that the Education Bureau will subsequently strengthen inspections around the campus after school, and contact the police in the jurisdiction and the local district chief to help pay attention to students gathering outside the school and strengthen safety protection. At the same time, we will continue to supervise the school to clarify the incident, and work with tutors, the Academic Affairs Office, and the Counseling Office to provide students with necessary care and assistance. The entire case will be handled in accordance with the campus bullying prevention guidelines to protect students' safety and education rights.