Legal awareness encouraged to reduce crime risks

Anti-bullying measures

Considering a number of juvenile crimes originate from school bullying, China has attached greater importance to the issue, with more specific and practical measures put in place.

In May, the Ministry of Education required each primary and middle school to establish an anti-bullying committee responsible for determining acts of bullying and handling them.

Schools should formulate rules that specify disciplinary measures or different kinds of bullying behavior, the ministry said, adding that an anti-bullying hotline and email address need to be made available.

It urged every class to hold at least two anti-bullying sessions per semester and teach students about preventing bullying, specifying that surveillance cameras should placed in corridors, on rooftops, in storage rooms and other acceptable locations on campus.

The same month, the Supreme People's Court, China's top court, unveiled a specific guideline to strengthen juvenile protection and crime prevention measures, calling on judges to focus more on handling cases involving school bullying.

The 42-article guideline mandates the identification of bullying during other child-related cases and to promptly notify schools or training institutions to arrange interventions, ordering courts to follow up on how the education departments address the issue.

It allows courts to determine an infringement based on the severity of school bullying and the degree of physical or mental harm to victims, stressing that if bullying has constituted a crime, the perpetrators need to be held criminally liable.