Zhang 3 Feng’s World｜The child who snatched the microphone should know something else

A visiting associate professor from the School of Education of Hefei Normal University gave a lecture on reading at a middle school and had his microphone taken away by students. After the video spread, the teacher was suspended for investigation.

He responded that he had spoken a little before the PPT was played, encouraging students to strive to go out of Anhui and out of China. He is currently reflecting on it.

I didn’t see his original words in the lecture. It might have been that he thought he was being witty and humorous, such as, as is circulating online, going abroad to earn US dollars and marrying a foreign wife—this is a vulgar and low-level view.

The students grabbed the microphone, saying he was a worshiper of foreign things, and shouted “We must study for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” Many students followed suit, shouting slogans, and a large number of them left.

If the teacher and the students are not dealt with in the end, it’s not a big deal. However, it’s obvious that the teacher will be punished because of the lecture, and the online public opinion is boiling, basically all criticizing the teacher.

It’s obvious that the teacher is not a “rebel” or a hostile element. The fact that he can often give lectures in middle schools shows that his ideology is up to par (his knowledge level is questionable). He probably didn’t expect the young people to be so radical now.

A friend said this is better than reporting, but it’s actually the same thing, maybe even worse—this is a hunt and a public trial. Would that student shout for… while studying at home? Obviously not. He shouted like that, just knowing that this is absolutely correct and can defeat the teacher.

That slogan is probably hanging on the wall of the classroom, or many classrooms have similar slogans. The content of the slogan may be nothing, but if a middle school student only knows “up to the slogan”, it is stupid—you can’t think it’s not stupid just because he’s still a child.

A middle school student should know something else, know something beyond the slogans. Similarly, if an adult argues with someone, the knowledge and logic they cite are still at the textbook level, it’s all stupid.

This is not to say that textbooks are wrong. But the foundation of people’s expression should exceed textbooks, otherwise education is a failure.

What’s more worrying is the combination of stupidity and fanaticism. The school invites outside teachers to give lectures, definitely wanting them to talk about something beyond the slogans on the wall. If they just repeat the slogans, buying a loudspeaker is enough. However, the students protested by shouting the slogans on the wall—what could be more anti-education than this?

Some friends associate this with the “blank paper hero” of the past, and they feel this anti-educational power. As long as it’s politically correct, the louder the voice, the greater the lethality. This is a scene familiar to people decades ago.

Today, some people are commemorating the 26th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s death. Wasn’t Deng’s effort to let the Chinese people go out into the world? But the current middle school students seem to be getting a reverse spirit of the times.

26 years ago today, I was preparing for the college entrance examination. I heard the funeral music and news reports while eating in the cafeteria. The students were all stunned, and there was indeed a sad atmosphere. But at that time, I couldn’t have imagined that middle school students 26 years later would be like this.

Because our belief at that time was to go out of Henan. Only those with very good family conditions would think of “going out into the world”. Looking at those children in the video, I feel sad and a little heartbroken. Their world will become smaller and smaller.