Nine violent incidents were reported at schools round the country in the past two weeks, attracting much social concern, a local newspaper has reported.

In one video clip that went viral, a girl ordered another to look for a lollipop in a garbage can by using her mouth. The victim was forced to do it and, as she put her head in the garbage can to search for the candy, she was kicked by the other girl.

A school in Jiaozuo City, Henan Province confirmed this incident that happened on Oct. 10. It was reported that the two families have come to a settlement and the bully had been “punished according to school rules”. The headmaster said the two classmates didn't really have a big enmity between themselves, and asked Internet users to be more tolerant of childish behavior.

A more serious case, however, occurred in Yiyang County, Henan Province, where one girl killed another.

According to the Beijing News, the school violence cases tend to occur at a low age, involve crowd attacks and be cyber-related (e.g. some took off the victim's clothes and took nude photos then uploaded the photos online). The more violent cases tend to happen between girls, along with insulting behavior such as taking "nude photos" of victims already mentioned.

Zong Chunshan, director of Beijing Legal and Psychological Counseling Center, however, rejected the idea that juvenile violence was increasing. He said it was because of the Internet which can spread information fast, so that people get to know about more such cases.

As for why in these two weeks most victims are girls, Beijing Normal University's associate professor in psychology Wang Fang said it was too early to conclude there are more female abusers than males. "You have to look at it in a bigger picture. Recently the result may be due to the accidental occurrence, which gave people misconception. Our research shows there are more male than female cases. "

The Beijing News also revisited several previous cases.

In one case which happened in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, four girls beat up another. Police found the attackers were in the 12-14 age range. They were punished, while the victim underwent psychological counseling and recovered well, one policeman in charge of this case in the district said.

In another occurrence in Yuanchun Town, Nanle County, Henan Province, a video clip showed two girls getting slapped in the face by two other girls. The local police station found the two attackers were school dropouts, 14 and 17 years old respectively, and fined them and held them in custody for half a month.

In May, a set of photos were published, in which one girl was beaten up and a nude photo of her was taken. Five suspects were arrested. The case became hot again when the court proceeded to hand down verdicts on Oct. 13 in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province. The judge ruled that four girls were guilty of insulting the victim and a boy was guilty of intentional injury. They are yet to be sentenced.

The newspaper reviewed the cases and found out the causes were usually due to quarrels, such as someone being accused of telling tales to parents or teachers, or because of love affairs. Local authorities mostly deemed the causes as "trivial."

Zong Chunshan also suggested the Internet encouraged youngsters without stable and mature mentality to mimic the violence they see online. However, he said the lack of family education and the parents’ violence towards children underlay many of the juvenile offenses. Those that don't have a sense of achievement in studies will find another way to prove themselves, such as violence. And uploading the violence to the Internet is just showing off.

"In some Chinese families, girls face discrimination, and get less good treatment than boys," he pointed out. "Some girls become angry, so they ape men by becoming violent as well as taking to cigarettes and liquor."

Most attackers are underage students and the locations of the violence are remote areas outside schools. Due to the fact that most cases are treated as juvenile offense, the attackers were mostly just scolded and ordered to undergo corrective education; only a few got fined or taken into custody.

But the offenders will have their crimes on record even if treated leniently due to their age, attorney Han Xiao said. This will affect their future job prospects, ability to take career entry exams and other activities when the time comes.

Experts also believed the offenders and victims both need psychological counseling. "We have to understand the root cause of a particular violent case and then find a way to resolve it satisfactorily."

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