China Mourns 10,000 on Children's Day

Children's Day had a more somber tone in China yesterday.  It's usually a day of celebration for parents and children, but the deaths of about 10,000 children in the May 12 earthquake have cast a dark shadow over the nation, especially for parents who lost their only children.   

Even though there were some bright moments during the day, including special fundraisers and free entrance at the panda research center in Chengdu, these gestures were of little comfort to mourning parents.

Rather than quietly grieving, many parents' sorrows have turned too anger and rage.  They've lost their only child, and a sense of hope has died along with them.  But while the earthquake couldn't have been prevented, a lot of the school damage could have been.

The China Digital Times has translated an account from Lin Qiang, the Deputy Inspector of the Sichuan Education Department, that originally appeared in Southern Weekend.  He asked to withdraw from his honored position as an Olympic torchbearer because of his deep guilt over the deaths of children from the earthquake. 

He writes, “it is a natural disaster. But natural disasters wouldn’t necessarily cause human tragedies. It’s morally lazy to blame nature for human tragedies. The child could have survived. The school building could have stood upright. Not a single student died at another school just a half mile away, because its building didn’t collapse. . .

If we education administrators had fulfilled our duties and guarded against corruption, our school buildings would have stood firm and the teachers and children wouldn’t have died for no good reason. So much tragedy could have been avoided. It’s a shame that we were not able to protect our vulnerable kids from danger. We should think about it. We should not shrink from our responsibilities and glorify ourselves with a few teachers’ heroic deeds in the earthquake."

These are powerful words coming from an official who could have authorized higher building standards for the 7,000 collapsed schoolrooms, but now it's too late.  Many devastated parents have been protesting outside crumbled school buildings, and authorities have trying to be sympathetic, while maintaining order. 

While Lin must feel a strong sense of guilt, his words could also provide fuel for parents who are ready to sue the school system.  In another article originally posted but later removed from Xinhua News, Lin admitted that "seeking truth is more important than losing face." 

He also said, “If we educational officials hadn’t left loopholes for corruption, the collapsed buildings could have been as solid as the primary school” that didn't collapse because its construction was supervised by an independent donor. These types of confessions from school supervisors are like gold for those who could be building a case against the government.

Granted, they're not as powerful as a thorough analysis of the material and structural quality of the building, but they sitll hold weight for parents who are trying to make sense of such a brutal atrocity.  Corruption, bad building materials, shrinking from responsibilities. . .  this is some pretty powerful ammunition for the lawyers.   

But even the most lucrative settlement won't bring back the children that were taken in the earthquake.  Furthermore, considering that these parents are dealing with an extremely sensitive political issue in China, not in the lawsuit-happy U.S., chances are that this potential case will be handled efficiently and far-removed from the public eye.

It's impossible to change the past, but the earthquake provides many valuable lessons for the future.  Right now many of the surviving students from the earthquake are either studying at make-shift  tent schools or have been sent to schools in nearby provinces.  But when their children eventually start school in 20 or 30 years, they'll be able to learn from past mistakes in structurally sound schools.