News of the suicide of a young girl by self-poisoning has shocked Chinese netizens. Pressure at school, circumstances at home, and the ease of availability of pesticides in China have all potentially contributed to the girl’s death.

A 10-year-old girl from Xuzhou city in Jiangsu province died this week after self-poisoning in her own home. She left behind a 3-minute video and a 2-page farewell letter to her family, Beijing News reports through Weibo.

In the video, the girl calmly says: “Mum, dad, I’m off. I want to tell you I am sorry. I want to go to heaven, and want to bid you all farewell.”

“When my birthday comes up, don’t forget to place a cake in front of my grave. (..) Thanks mum and dad, for taking care of me all these years.”

“You beat me and you scold me,” the girl added: “But I know it is all for my own good. I will take care of you from heaven. I don’t want to let you down. This is something I need to do.”

The young girl stated in her farewell message that she wanted to go to heaven because she was “not doing well at school.”

Too Much Pressure

According to Sina News, the young girl died after drinking pesticides on November 14 – just 3 days before the mid-term exams would be held at her school.

The girl reportedly was receiving low grades this semester and was punished for it by her teacher, who did not want her to take part in the mid-term exams because she would allegedly bring down the average grade of the whole class.

Her mother told Chinese news outlet The Paper that the pressure at school might have led to the child’s suicide.

According to a 2010 study, one third of Chinese primary school children suffer from psychological stress because of the pressure at school and their parents’ expectations.

In November of 2014, the suicide of a 10-year-old boy from Guangzhou after his mid-term exams also shocked netizens. The boy, who received just 39 points for an English exam, hung himself after writing about his low grade in his diary.

A year prior, in 2013, another 10-year-old committed suicide by jumping from a building after being scolded by a teacher after failing to complete an assignment.

Pesticide Suicides in China

Suicide is the top cause of death among Chinese youth; school stress is often a major factor. But in the case of the Jiangsu girl, the availability of pesticides might also relate to her death.

“When I was that age, I also thought of committing suicide,” one person on Weibo wrote: “I found a person through QQ who could sell me pesticides. He asked 900 for it [±135$] and I thought it was too expensive so I didn’t buy it. I don’t even know how I’m still alive now.”

Suicide by pesticide poisoning is the most common method of suicide in China, both for males and females. Pesticides are readily available, especially in China’s rural areas, where the occurrence of self-poisoning are much higher than in urban areas (Page et al 2017).

A recent study published in BMC Public Health this year (Yimaer et al 2017) found that pesticide poisoning for children is a serious problem in China. In the 2006-2015 period, a total of 2952 children were poisoned by pesticides in the province of Zhejiang alone.

Weibo Discussions

On Weibo, the young girl’s death has led to many discussions. Some people blame the parents for the girl’s death, others say that Chinese children are too pressured by the school system. There are also those who do not believe that such a prepared suicide could really be the work of a 10-year-old alone, and wonder if someone perhaps made her do it.

“At 10 years old, she does not even grasp the what death is,” some say.

There are also people who share their own childhood problems. “When I was that age I also had suicidal thought,” one commenter writes: “But I never had the courage. She is more courageous than I am.”

On November 16, the local education department stated that authorities are currently further investigating the case.

By Manya Koetse

@manyapan

Follow @whatsonweibo

References

Page, A., Liu, S., Gunnell, D., Astell-Burt, T., Feng, X., Wang, L., & Zhou, M. 2017. “Suicide by pesticide poisoning remains a priority for suicide prevention in China: Analysis of national mortality trends 2006–2013.” Journal of Affective Disorders, 208(November 2016): 418–423.

Yimaer A., Chen G., Zhang M., Zhou L., Fang X., Jiang W. 2017. “Childhood pesticide poisoning in Zhejiang, China: a retrospective analysis from 2006 to 2015.” BMC Public Health 17(1): 602.

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