Questions arise over boy's death at school

A student surnamed Lin who jumped to his death in the Chenghua district of Chengdu, Sichuan province, on Sunday had personal problems, the Chenghua district education bureau said in an online post on Tuesday.

A netizen claiming to be the mother of the student insisted that the police and school provide more detailed information. This person claimed the boy had been fine when he went to school at 5:40 pm on Sunday.

"My son was happily sent to school. But one hour later, such a big thing had happened. The result of the investigation was announced hastily. I want to meet my son's direct teacher and watch all the videos," the netizen said on social media.

Late on Monday evening, the middle school made an announcement online, saying the school had called the 120 Life Hotline immediately after the student jumped. Medical personnel found the boy dead at the scene and the police were investigating, the announcement said.

Commenting on the announcement, the Xinhua Daily Telegraph, a newspaper in Beijing, said that crucial points had been skipped over and a more detailed response was required. The newspaper said the deceased student's family was troubled by many questions.

For example, it said, why did the school wait two hours to inform the parents that the boy had died? Why did the school initially refuse to provide the surveillance video, and then when the parents went to watch it, some of the video was missing? Why do some students claim that they are forbidden to speak?

All questions need to be answered in a timely fashion, the newspaper said.

If the school fails to address questions, it may lead to more speculation and further fermentation of public opinion, it said.

After the student, who attended Chengdu No 49 Middle School, died at around 6:40 pm on Sunday, the district immediately set up a joint investigation team composed of the publicity department of the district Party committee; political and legal officials; the district's public security bureau; and its education bureau.

The team found that teachers had not physically punished or abused the student, nor was he bullied on campus.

The incident shows that the school is weak in caring for students psychologically, the bureau said, promising to strengthen mental health education in schools throughout the district, pay more attention to reverence and respect for life, cherish people and strive to help every child grow up healthy, the team was quoted as saying in the post.