Complaints against teachers in China: How much is too much?

Chinese universities have recently found themselves repeatedly at the centre of public controversy, with the latest issue dominating online discussion being the allegations against sociologist Shen Yifei, an associate professor at Fudan University.

The incident began around March, when a parent joined Shen’s livestream to seek advice. The parent said their second grader had been bullied at school, and that the teacher’s unfair handling of the situation had left the child with suicidal thoughts.

The latest incident

After learning more about the situation, Shen concluded that what the parent regarded as “bullying” was, in fact, simply a case of the child sharing snacks with a classmate without receiving anything in return, which then led to a minor scuffle. She therefore judged the incident to be an ordinary social friction between children rather than bullying. In her view, it was the parent’s “victim mentality” that was placing pressure on the child.

The 40-minute live call was later turned into a video and uploaded online, with the identities of those involved anonymised and their voices altered. Unexpectedly, the mother who took part in the call then proceeded to report Shen to Fudan University.

She first reported the video for allegedly infringing personal privacy, and then accused Shen of neglecting her duties and of livestreaming publicly in a way that affected her primary academic responsibilities. She also repeatedly called various departments within the university to lodge complaints.

Fudan’s response and impact on professor

Chinese media on 22 May cited a response from Fudan University stating that Shen’s commentary on the case discussed during the live call was professional and objective, and did not cross any compliance boundaries; the livestream did not disrupt normal teaching order, nor did it involve any so-called “infringement of third-party privacy rights”. Ultimately, after review, the university imposed no administrative sanctions or professional disciplinary measures on Shen.

The matter may appear to have been resolved smoothly, but in her response video, Shen recounted that during the nearly two weeks in which she was under complaint, she had to repeatedly submit written accounts and respond to enquiries in order to cooperate with the investigation, which significantly disrupted her normal work and daily routine.

She recalled that the parent in question, believing their child had been bullied, reported the teacher to the school authorities and even filed a police complaint. After more than two months of repeated complaints, the local education bureau concluded that both the school and the teacher should bear responsibility. Shen said she initially could not understand why the authorities handled the matter in this way, but after being reported herself, she came to understand: “Everyone just wants to keep the peace… If you keep this up for two months, won’t everyone around you be driven mad?”

One of the complainant’s demands was that Shen’s team take down the livestream video. Shen said she had initially considered doing so, in the hope of putting the matter to rest; however, after seeing many frontline teachers leaving comments under the video, sharing their own pain and grievances at having been subjected to baseless complaints from parents, she decided to keep the video online and “stand her ground”.

Shen said that in the comments section she saw many teachers within the system who were unable to speak up for themselves: “For her, making a complaint carries no cost, but the price we pay for it is extremely heavy.”

Commenters online bemoaned: “Luckily Shen is from Fudan University; if she were an elementary or middle school teacher, she would already be driven to resign.” Other teachers thanked Shen for speaking up on behalf of grassroots educators in general, admitting that “many form teachers have been subjected for over a decade to persistent harassment from parents with entrenched misperceptions”.

As the video went viral, the topic “Fudan associate professor reported” made it to the list of top searches. Many netizens and media commentaries criticised the parent who made the unfounded complaint, and how “zero-cost reporting” is being exploited by some parents who turn it into a weapon to exert pressure on teachers.

The larger situation

Earlier this year, at Dongguan’s local Two Sessions, several members of the local municipal committee raised concerns that “an overabundance of complaints is damaging the educational ecosystem”, a view that also trended on social media.

In a time where everyone has a mobile phone and internet access, it is virtually impossible to stop complaints from being made. As a mechanism for safeguarding individual rights and social justice, reporting also has its value. Rather than focusing on whether complaints are being abused, a more worthwhile question is why reporting is so effective.

In Shen’s case, no disciplinary action was taken by Fudan University. However, given that the livestream alone was sufficient to show that the complaint was unfounded but Shen still had to repeatedly write statements and submit reports to prove her innocence, it is clear that the system of complaints does not make sense. 

As netizens have pointed out, if Fudan — one of China’s top universities — handles matters in this way, it is not difficult to imagine how cumbersome and exhausting the process must be in grassroots schools.

This situation is not confined to the education sector. From schools to hospitals, from arts and cultural organisations to grassroots units, institutions in recent years have become highly sensitive to public opinion risks, often taking the line that it is “better to err on the side of caution”, placing considerable pressure on those who are reported.

This has turned reporting into an asymmetric game, in which initiating a complaint carries extremely low costs while the burden of proving one’s innocence is extremely high, making it susceptible to misuse by some individuals.

People afraid to speak up

As a media practitioner, the most striking thing about complaints is that in recent years many Chinese scholars and public intellectuals, fearing complaints, have either refused interviews or avoided discussing certain topics. When everyone becomes wary of complaints to the point of being paranoid, the cost of expression rises sharply, and the space for public discussion becomes increasingly constrained.

In March, a Chinese PhD student in Australia revealed on RedNote that she had previously been reported after posting a laboratory vlog in which lab animals were visible. 

However, after receiving the complaint, her supervisor did not require her to prove her innocence; instead, they reviewed all of her videos and concluded that there was no violation, adding that if similar issues arose again, the university would provide appropriate support. Such investigative and protective mechanisms may offer useful lessons for Chinese universities to consider.

The complaint against the Fudan associate professor drew widespread attention partly because it struck a chord with the lived experiences of educators and other frontline workers. Addressing “zero-cost reporting” cannot depend solely on calls for parents to act more responsibly; it also requires relevant authorities to establish more robust response mechanisms, including filtering out malicious complaints and carrying out proper professional investigations. Only then can professionals across sectors devote their energy to their work rather than to self-preservation.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “被举报的复旦教授”.

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