Editor's Note:

The story Mother reaches deal with school after accusing teacher of bullying son appeared on October 30 in Metro Beijing. Wang Sixin, a law professor at the Communication University of China, provided a tip-off for the story in a post uploaded to his Sina Weibo account on October 29. He said that a mother had turned to him seeking legal help after alleging that her 7-year-old son was psychologically and physically abused by his class teacher. The mother said the teacher first agreed to apologize, but then reneged and continued to abuse her son.

The story:

The mother, surnamed Wang, said last Monday that since mid-September her son enrolled at the Experimental School Attached to Capital Normal University in Chaoyang district had been increasingly reluctant to attend school.

"He said his teacher, Deng Qunying, forced him to sit on his own by the classroom door where he could not see the blackboard clearly. [Deng] also taunted him in class by saying he 'looked like a fool,'" she said.

Wang added that she had asked Deng to apologize to her son. Deng refused and ordered other students to watch the boy's every move and sign a petition detailing his misbehavior in class.

Deng denied she had mistreated Wang's son on Monday.

A parent of another student in the class also countered the claims, insisting Deng was a "nice teacher."

The back story:

Upon reading the Weibo post by Wang Sixin, a legal expert regularly interviewed by the Global Times, my first thought was it was another shocking case of child abuse at a Chinese school following earlier similar scandals in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, and Wenling, Zhejiang Province.

The case in Wenling resulted in 21-year-old kindergarten teacher, Yan Yanhong, being detained on October 25 after pictures circulated online of her lifting a boy by his ears, the Global Times reported.

Yan's personal blog contained other photos documenting child abuse, including pupils in trash cans, kids being made to dance without their pants and being forced to kiss each other, according to the report.

Wang Sixin said that he shared the case on Weibo to attract the media's attention. Solving the matter through the legal system is often faster when pressure is applied from the public, he said.

During a telephone interview I had with Wang, the mother told me she planned to send a complaint letter to the Chaoyang District Education Committee.

She also told me her son had asked her: "Mom, do you think I look like a fool?"

Wang said Deng also forced her son to stand outside the classroom for at least 20 minutes during a class meeting last month.

"The petition launched by Deng, which involved having other students monitor him and record his behavior, made other students believe my son was a bad boy. They then began to bully him," she said.

Wang claimed she had audio recordings on her cellphone that proved girls in the class kicked her son and beat him because he always made mistakes.

"Because my son has not been willing to go to school for more than one month, I wanted Deng to apologize in class. I wanted her to tell students he is not a bad boy, but she refused," said Wang.

I persuaded Deng to agree to an interview with Metro Beijing to give her side of the story and offer her a chance to refute Wang's allegations that she had abused her son.

Instead, Deng confirmed all allegations made by Wang's mother were true, except that she had said her son looked like a "fool." She justified her actions by saying that she was responding to students' requests for Wang's son to be disciplined for his misbehavior.

About one hour after our interview, Deng called back requesting her remarks remain off the record.

"I welcome you to come to the school and investigate, but you can't report what I told you. What we talked about over the phone cannot be deemed an interview," she said.

I was surprised to hear Deng make this claim and couldn't understand why she didn't want to defend herself in the story.

As Deng repeatedly demanded to speak to our managing editor, there was another twist. Wang, the mother, called back requesting the story not go to press until at least October 31, saying the school's administration had contacted her and wished to resolve the matter before the date.

After a spate of calls from Deng to different people in the office, we decided to keep Deng's remarks off the record but still go to print with the story for the October 30 edition.

However, I resolved to try once more to interview Deng with the understanding that everything she said was on the record to ensure the story had greater balance.

Fortunately, Deng agreed to another interview and said she had treated Wang's son "as her own child," and naturally wouldn't want to harm him.

I asked parents of students in the class what they thought about Deng or any other teacher inflicting physical punishment on students. One mother said it was inappropriate to comment as it insinuated Deng was guilty.

"It is unfair. If I answered this question, readers would naturally connect this issue [physical punishment] with Deng," she said.

At around 9:30 pm on October 29, the mother surnamed Wang sent me a text message saying that the problem has been "basically solved" by the school. The story was consequently amended to lead with this development.

It was heartening to know that this problem, which had lingered for more than one month, was resolved the same day Metro Beijing contacted parties involved. It was less comforting to think perhaps a deal had been struck between Wang and the school that would result in no charges being pressed against Deng when, for the sake of other children's safety, perhaps they were warranted.

The attitudes of the mother Wang, Deng and the anonymous parent of a student in the class highlighted how sensitive the relationship between teachers and children at Chinese schools has become in the wake of recent child abuse scandals.