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Author: Ding Yang

This is the “Education Weekly Insights” column of Tencent News Education Channel. Each issue will analyze and comment on hot topics in education, policy directions or personal opinions in the past week.

The hot topic in the education field this week is "Niuma No. 1 Middle School".

Let's briefly review the incident. On July 27, at the 2024 graduation ceremony of Niushou No. 1 Middle School in Fancheng District, Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, a junior high school graduate spoke as a representative of outstanding students and called the school name "Niuma No. 1 Middle School". As a result, the principal got angry in public and not only severely criticized him, but also took away the graduate's certificate of excellence. The video was uploaded to the Internet, causing great controversy. On the 29th, the Propaganda Department of the Fancheng District Committee stated that the school had returned the student's certificate of outstanding graduation to him, and ordered the school and the principal in question to make a deep self-examination.

Many of the criticisms against the principal focused on the fact that he lacked a sense of humor and internet sense, had a clear generation gap with students, was overly sensitive, and handled problems in a simplistic and crude manner. Some netizens imagined that the principal should have followed the students' self-deprecation and responded flexibly, such as encouraging everyone to "work hard like an ox and forge ahead like a horse." This could have "become a good story." Other media outlets said that public opinion did not need to criticize the principal, believing that the principal simply "did not keep up with the pace of the Internet."

After carefully watching the entire video of the graduation ceremony, the author believes that the above argument may underestimate the seriousness of the problem.

This graduate named Li Yuanhao was indeed quite courageous to say "Niuma No. 1 Middle School" on the stage, but he did not mean to attack the school. Judging from the full speech, he threw out this word probably because the students of the school generally ridiculed their school as "Niuma No. 1 Middle School" - after all, the school name has the word "Niu" in it, "Niuma" is a popular buzzword, and studying is hard and tiring - Li Yuanhao believes that this reflects that "you all hate this school very much." However, his point is that he does not want his classmates to have only this impression of their alma mater, "But you have to understand that this is where we have shed three years of sweat. Do you want to leave here?"

If the principals in the audience listened carefully to Li Yuanhao's speech, they should have felt his reluctance to leave and gratitude towards the school.

But what Li Yuanhao didn't expect was that the two statements, "Niusma No. 1 Middle School" and "You all hate this school very much", would anger the principal to such an extent.

Principal Hong's response was not so intense at the beginning, and his speech was also skillful. When he first came on stage, he followed the saying of "Oxen and Horses No. 1 Middle School" and said, "You have worked hard like oxen and horses for three years. The purpose is that in the future you will not have to toil all your life like oxen and horses, but live with dignity and meaning." He then said some words that were probably planned to be said about struggle and reward, and then left.

However, when it came to the award ceremony, Principal Hong returned to the stage and began to speak in front of the outstanding graduates. It was only from this speech that we could see how Principal Hong could not hold back his anger and escalated the situation, giving Li Yuanhao a severe punishment.

Principal Hong first discussed sternly what excellence is. In his opinion, the most important thing about excellence is to be grateful and know how to be a good person. After talking about this for a long time, he finally revealed his true intentions and pointed the finger at Li Yuanhao.

"Li Yuanhao, you have no right to say that Niu Shou No. 1 Middle School is a school for oxen and horses." "Li Yuanhao, get out of here and take away his certificate of excellence." Principal Hong confiscated the certificate in front of all the teachers and students and kicked Li Yuanhao out.

This humiliation is not over yet. President Hong continued to say that six students from Tsinghua University and Peking University came to the school to express gratitude a few days ago. What qualifications do you, a "small" and "immature" Li Yuanhao, have to ridicule the school? This attitude has put considerable pressure on Li Yuanhao.

This is not the end. Then, President Hong continued to raise the issue to the national level without any logic, questioning Li Yuanhao who was kicked off the stage. It is completely conceivable that facing such accusations, Li Yuanhao probably felt not only pressure, but also fear and terror.

If you carefully consider the whole process, you can find more things wrong. For example, the confiscated certificates of outstanding graduates were completely based on Principal Hong's words, without considering whether there were any rules and procedures; for example, Principal Hong repeatedly asked students to applaud during his speech, "Clap for me", and if the applause was not loud enough, "Move your whole body!" "More enthusiastic!" - these are all typical control desires and parent-made styles. This is also the logic behind emphasizing gratitude, humiliating, and severely punishing Li Yuanhao - no one is allowed to dare to challenge authority, and students must obey authority.

And this is the more fundamental and more worrying issue of the "Niuma No. 1 Middle School" incident, which is much more serious than the principal's "lack of sense of humor" and "generation gap with students."

Perhaps Principal Hong thinks that this kind of discipline is necessary for junior high school students. If they don't follow the discipline, they won't be able to become useful and may regret it in the future. So this is for the good of the students, and that's why he speaks so confidently. But is this really how education should be? Is this really the idea that educators should convey? Don't educators want students to be able to spontaneously feel grateful to the school?

Principal Hong should not be angry, but should be glad that under this disciplinary style, there are still people who have the courage to tell the truth and express the dissatisfaction and even resentment of students who call themselves "cows and horses". If he still has the opportunity to continue to be an educator, he should take this opportunity to reflect on how to treat students correctly in the future.

As for Niushou No.1 Middle School, the nickname "Niu Ma No.1 Middle School" cannot be removed. As the saying goes, "There are only wrong names, but no wrong nicknames." This nickname is also worth thinking about by all the faculty and staff of the school, and even other schools and faculty members in a wider range to identify themselves with it. Students call themselves "Niu Ma" and even "hate" their own school. Is this really a tolerable situation?

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