Youth Century Tour - China's Century-Old Youth Emotion Survey

Author: Gu Ying
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: "Is this what the students handed in?" I asked. "They're handing letters to us? That's not possible! If so, it would be great! According to the Guidance Office's findings—" The male director's face lit up with a triumphant smile. "The mailroom delivers all student letters to the Guidance Office every day, and we analyze them specifically."
"Analyze?"
"Yes. Generally, letters are returned to the mailroom. If something seems off, we take action. How do we spot the problem? It's not difficult. Those who write letters to find partners have terrible handwriting, full of typos. Moreover, they're guilty of paranoia—nine out of ten want the recipient to open and collect the letter personally, yet they don't write the address or name. The envelopes and paper, however, are quite fancy. Take a look at this envelope." The envelope was light green, with golden mandarin ducks printed on the corners. Indeed, it read "For Commercial's Personal Opening (Detailed Inside)." There were two typos in the address.
"But what about this?" I hesitated. "The Guidance Office has never done anything inappropriate." The male director laughed. "Rest assured, we never open students' letters in secret. If we determine a letter is suspicious, we ask the homeroom teacher to bring the recipient to open it in front of us. Or, we can hand the letter directly to the student's parents. In most cases, the parents agree, and the child opens it in our presence."
"What about Commercial's letter?"
"Yes. That day, we had Xiao Zhang deliver it to Commercial's parents. Commercial's parents are both workers at the art museum, and they immediately tore it open, fuming afterward. They said they would decide whether to show it to their son! So, it's being kept here in the Guidance Office."
"That's the case," Xiao Zhang confirmed.
"Commercial never knew?" I asked.
"How could he?" The male director seemed surprised by my question.
"Is that appropriate?" I stammered again.
"Inappropriate?" The male director grew indignant. "What do you call appropriate? In my opinion, our approach only benefits the students. Take Commercial, for example. He's handsome and smart. In eighth grade, several girls fought to be with him, driving him into a frenzy. His parents were deeply worried. This year, in ninth grade, his homeroom teacher reformed him, making him the labor committee head, and things settled down. Now, with this letter, won't it disrupt his progress?"
"Doesn't this make students resent it?"
"Of course it does! They act obedient in front of us but curse us behind our backs! Let them. We have no regrets. We're doing this for their own good, for the sake of the school's discipline! We're not afraid, and we won't back down!"
"I feel—"
"You, me, and our opinions aren't the same, are they? You writers and theorists, you only analyze things on the surface—whether it's reasonable or not—what good does that do? If you were the Guidance Director at Po Shang Middle School, guarding this mess of 61% high school and 44% junior high students dating, you'd know what to do then!"
The male director took Commercial's letter back from my hand, placed it in a folder, and handed it to Xiao Zhang to lock away in the archives.
"Do you have any other questions?" I took my leave.
The male director escorted me downstairs. The cleanup of the construction waste on the playground was nearing completion. A boy carrying a wheelbarrow stopped and asked, "Director, where are the shovels and wheelbarrows going?"
"To the storage room. Hey, you guys, go with Commercial!"
The boy carrying the wheelbarrow was Commercial—a tall, slender, and handsome young man.
Leaving Po Shang Middle School, I was filled with doubts. The male director's "successful experience" clearly involved a significant degree of coercion, pressure, and even violated personal privacy. But for a school like Po Shang Middle School, where dating between boys and girls was rampant, what other methods could be used? If I were appointed of Po Shang Middle School, how would I handle it? These were the questions swirling in my mind as I rode my bicycle back along the ring road. P075-076