Hong Kong school faces backlash after children shown graphic footage of Nanjing massacre
A primary school in Hong Kong has apologised after students as young as six were left in tears last week after teachers showed them unsettling video footage of the Nanjing massacre ahead of its 84th anniversary on Monday.
The incident came after the Education Bureau called on local schools to run activities commemorating the massacre in a directive last month.
The Po Leung Kuk Hong Kong Taoist Association Yuen Yuen primary school showed footage of executions and corpses during the Nanjing massacre to its youngest pupils during a class on moral and civic education, according to local media reports.
The five-minute clip, pulled from an RTHK documentary on the massacre, showed Japanese soldiers executing civilians, and piles of corpses, including babies. The clip was included in the Education Bureau’s suggested teaching materials for commemorating the massacre.
The Nanjing massacre, which lasted from December 1937 to January 1938, saw the mass murder and rape of hundreds of thousands of residents in Nanjing by Imperial Japanese troops for a period of six weeks during the second Sino-Japanese war. Beijing frequently references the massacre to drum up nationalistic outrage against Japan.
The school later “expressed regret” over the incident in response to complaints from concerned parents.
“We have learned that some children felt disturbed,” an email from last Friday read. “Our school from now on will be much more cautious, carefully consider children’s feelings, and adjust the teaching materials according to each grade.”
The school added that it would continue to consider students’ feelings as it implemented national identity and civic responsibility education. The Guardian has reached out to the school for comment.
Hong Kong’s education authorities sought to distance themselves from the incident. A spokesperson told the Guardian on Monday that there was no requirement for schools to show the provided material to its entire cohort. The bureau added that teachers should use their professional judgement and provide proper guidance when teaching students about war.
“After reading the information provided by the Education Bureau, teachers can choose appropriate textbooks or select appropriate passages according to the age and mental development of the students,” the bureau said in an emailed statement.
It added that the video was publicly available, and contained warnings that the images may be disturbing for some viewers.
The incident also comes amid a wider push by authorities to foster a sense of Chinese identity and love of the motherland among students after Beijing’s imposition of a national security law last summer.
Earlier this month, the Education Bureau issued a comprehensive new national education curriculum and guidelines for all local schools.