The Taichung Education Bureau on Tuesday rejected a high school’s report finding that its staff members had not bullied a student who killed himself earlier this year, while promising to bring the case before a professional review committee.
An 11th-grade student at Taichung Municipal Feng Yuan Senior High School killed himself on Feb. 18.
His father said he had been singled out by school officials for months, and that they frequently searched his belongings or framed him for misdeeds he did not commit.
Photo: Su Meng-chuan, Taipei Times
After the boy’s death, the bureau reassigned seven school staff members allegedly involved in the case to other positions pending an investigation, and suspended the school’s director of student affairs for three months.
In April, the high school completed its first report on the case in which it concluded that four staff members — the director of student affairs, the chief military instructor and two safety instructors — had subjected the student to “improper discipline,” causing him “physical and mental harm.”
A second report, focusing on whether school staff members had bullied the student, was submitted to the bureau in June. The bureau rejected it and demanded revisions on the grounds that it lacked sufficient detail.
The school’s revised report, submitted on Tuesday, found that its staff members’ behavior toward the student did not constitute bullying.
The bureau said in a statement that the school’s findings were “completely unacceptable.”
It said it had previously explained to the school that the long-term improper disciplining of the student “already constitutes bullying,” and should have been dealt with more strictly.
Despite having been found to have emotionally harmed the student through improper discipline, the director of student affairs only received a demerit, which was “not at all proportionate,” it said.
The bureau said the school’s report was “unable to stand up to public scrutiny.”
On that basis, it would send the case to be reviewed by a professional teachers review committee to determine whether any of the staff members’ actions merited suspension or dismissal, the bureau said.
However, Taichung Municipal Feng Yuan Senior High School principal Liao Min-le (廖敏樂) stood by the report, saying it was compiled by a committee that included students’ parents, an expert on bullying and a lawyer, and was based on interviews with 10 teachers and students, and a questionnaire completed by more than 200 students.
Of the 22 demerits the student received, 16 were related to incidents in which other students were also punished, showing that he was not being singled out, Liao said.
Moreover, while the school’s investigation found that its staff members had inappropriately disciplined the boy, causing him emotional stress, their actions did not meet the definition of bullying set out by the Ministry of Education, Liao said.
Under the ministry’s Regulations Governing Prevention and Control of Bullying on Campuses, bullying is defined as any situation in which “a person or group of people use speech, writing, images, signs, physical gestures, electronic communications, the Internet or other means to directly or indirectly belittle, exclude, mistreat, harass or tease another person.”
To meet the definition, the behavior must make its recipient feel they are “in an unfriendly or hostile environment, cause them to suffer physical, mental or financial damage, or affect their ability to carry out their studies in a normal manner,” the regulations state.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS