Teachers are meant to be life builders and not life crushers. A recent study shows that teachers of kindergarten and junior school children are not careful and patient enough in handling their pupils.
One of the reported cases of carelessness of teachers is the case of Guo Jintong, a 6-year-old nursery school pupil who suffocated to death due to her teachers carelessness. It was reported that the young girl died after her teacher “taped and glued her mouth shut” because she was talking too much during morning exercise. There are millions of possible ways to curb this child’s act. Many professionals in teaching believe that the teacher acted out of inexperience.
However, the girl was eventually pronounced dead by paramedics after they were called to the Huadian Experimental Kindergarten. A witness at the school in Huadian City, in north-eastern China’s Jilin Province, said that Jintong was deemed to be too chatty as her class did stretches and aerobic exercise. It is then alleged her teacher decided to seal her mouth shut to keep her quiet.
In addition, the witness, who was not named, claimed tape and possibly even glue was used to shut the girl’s mouth, effectively “smothering” her to death. The young girl was reported to still continued to jump around with the rest of her class while gagged. She was said to have appeared abnormal after a while and so the teacher rushed her the school clinic. The nurse on duty quickly called an ambulance after seeing the child’s medical condition. The doctors said they were “unable to bring her back” after trying their best.
In response to the incident, government officials have confirmed the case and said they are investigating with local police. Also, a candlelight vigil was held for Jintong by members of the public.
The Deceased child’s devastated parents have also been filmed sitting outside the kindergarten’s gate waiting for an answer from the school. They couldn’t believe their daughter has finally died.
Government officials urge the educational sector to further enlighten every teacher on how to handle children’s acts maturely so as to avoid the repetition of such incident.
