High school teacher in hot water for shaming student with ‘naughtiest’ classmate vote

A Xi’an high school teacher was the center of criticism from parents and teachers for allegedly shaming a student by having peers vote for their “naughtiest” classmate.

According to the report, the 10th grade teacher held a secret ballot in which students were required to name the least-behaved among them.

The winner would occupy a seat directly adjacent to the teacher’s podium. Students who chose not to participate in the vote faced punishment, Chinese Business View reported on Wednesday.

Parents were not happy with the news. “My kid said you might get a time-out if you didn’t comply,” a parent complained. “What’s this teacher’s problem?”

The parent also said the teacher was targeting a specific student. “[It was a] boy suspected by teachers of having a girlfriend,” the parent said.

Neither the teacher nor student in question was reached for comment. However, that didn’t stop netizens from criticizing the move on social media.

“Naughty kids are often clever,” commented user “huozhe” on thepaper.cn, “not letting them be naughty is like not letting a horse run free.”

"The problem is, the teacher made the students vote themselves,” commented user “bushibuwang.”

Shang Hua, chairperson of the Xi’an Educational Psychology Association, called the teacher’s move a breach of ethics. “I could understand the dilemma,” Shang said, “But this method is bound to have negative impacts.”