Compiled from: Beijing Daily
 
On the morning of January 12, a woman on Beijing Subway Line 7 pinched a child's face hard and made the child kneel in public, drawing stares from fellow passengers. However, it is well known that such educational behavior of forcing a child to kneel in public has violated the latest law.

 
 

 
Case review
Ms. Wei boarded the subway heading towards Beijing West Railway Station on Line 7. Around 7:50 AM, she saw in the carriage a child aged seven or eight sitting on the opposite seat holding a phone, while a woman pinched the child's face hard, causing the mask to be pulled off the child's ear.

 
 

The child silently put on the mask, and the woman knocked off the child's hat with her hand. This time, the child dared not put the hat back on. The woman then snatched the phone from the child's hand and raised her hand to hit the child again, and the child instinctively reached out to block.
 
"I heard the woman say to the child, 'Don't sit down,' and then they went to another carriage. She threw the child's backpack on the ground and made the child kneel," Ms. Wei said. The child knelt from Wanzi Station all the way to Beijing West Station, kneeling for nearly one stop.

After the subway arrived at the station, the woman walked away with her hands in her pockets. The child quickly picked up the backpack, put it on, and ran after her. On the train, someone tried to advise the woman, but she retorted, "I'm disciplining my own child. I can make him do whatever I want."
 
After this incident was exposed online, netizens were outraged. Some netizens said, "A child is not your possession or your private property." Others reminded that relevant laws on family education have been enacted. Did this woman break the law?
 
 
Family Education Promotion Law
Article 5: Family education shall meet the following requirements:
(1) Respect the laws of未成年人 physical and mental development and individual differences;
(2) Respect the personal dignity of minors, protect their privacy and personal information, and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests;
(3) Follow the characteristics of family education and implement scientific concepts and methods of family education;
(4) Closely integrate and coordinate family education, school education, and social education;
(5) Adopt flexible and diverse measures based on actual circumstances.

 
 

 
[1] The author's perspective
The Family Education Promotion Law came into effect on January 1 this year. The above provisions mention that family education should respect the personal dignity of minors and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests. In this case, treating a child around eight years old in such a rough manner not only causes psychological trauma to the child but also makes those around feel psychologically uncomfortable, which is unreasonable and irresponsible.
 
It is precisely because a child's growth cannot be separated from family education, and parents' educational methods have a profound impact on children, that in order to promote the fine tradition of valuing family education in the Chinese nation, guide the whole society to focus on family, family education, and family values, enhance family happiness and social harmony, China has specifically formulated the "Family Education Promotion Law," hoping to cultivate socialist builders and successors with comprehensive development in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor. For this reason, children are no longer private property or appendages in outdated thinking, nor are they objects to be beaten or manipulated at will. When parents educate their children in public, they should protect their children's self-esteem. Respect and understanding from parents towards their children can better awaken children's self-reflection and self-love. It is hoped that incidents harming children's physical and mental health will no longer occur.