Filial piety speech leaves 4,000 kids in tears

A school event that intended to teach kids the importance of filial piety in north China's Shanxi Province turned out a weeping party.

Nearly 4,000 student kids aged around 10 were caught on camera sobbing and bawling in the playground of their school, with some feeling ashamed for not being able to do so in the past. The speaker who, for a solid three and a half hours, asked them to respect their parents and be good kids in the emotionally-charged speech.

Beijing News Photo

Outyang Weijian, one of the founders of Crazy English Education, was addressing a crowd of 3,953 students and 180 teachers at the Shuozhou Experimental School last week.

“The greatest mothers in the world are the Chinese mothers! They are sacrificing themselves for you. They could do anything for you, even be your maid,” said the speaker.

“So we have to respect them. Do not disobey what they say. Do not argue with them.”

“A considerate child never fights their mother when she is angry,” Ouyang said, apparently unmoved by the sight of tears and convulsive gasps from his audience.

The video of the event that was posted online on Friday, shocked netizens, who questioned whether the speech was considerate to kids of such an age. Some Internet users criticized the speech for taking an unacceptable way as a real-life moral lesson.

Not many netizens thumbed up Ouyang Weijian's speech.

Ouyang had been invited by the school administration to give a speech under the theme “Being grateful and moving forward”.

“We extended the speech from two hours to three and half hours,” said the school headmaster Zhao Zhijie, arguing that “It was because the speech was so wonderful.”

“It was very successful. Students cried, which means they learned from it,” said Zhao in an interview with the Beijing News.

“I was amazed when I first attended Ouyang’s speech in Beijing. Moral lessons are very much needed in education. That is why I invited him.”

With they eyes downcast, students were crying nonstop.

According to the Beijing News, Ouyang runs an education company that offers services such as summer camps and psychological training classes. Ouyang’s speech is priced at 50,000 yuan (7,300 US dollars) for a couple of hours and 100,000 yuan for four hours.

“Brainwashing is acceptable when the brain is filled with trash,” Ouyang told Beijing News, responding to such blame on his speech.

For Xiong Bingqi, an educator, the talk is an example of typical moral class. To build children’s independent characters, school teachers and parents should shoulder the responsibility of teaching them how to manage their life and time.

“It is very common to see students crying in their parents’ arms after being provoked by a speaker," said Xiong.

“Don’t you think it is a performance, more than a lesson?”

With they eyes downcast, students were crying nonstop.

The incident triggered backlash on the Chinese blogosphere, with users voicing their concern about the tactics used by the speaker.

“Children do not need educators for moral lessons. This is a responsibility for parents,” said a user who goes by the name @Xiayigezhuanjiao on China's Twitter-like Weibo.

“I took moral classes when I was a kid. We watched the movie 'Mother Love Me Once Again'. I will forever remember it, but it was simple and not aggressive,” commented another user @Wowo.

“The headmaster is in the wrong. Is his power under any governance? Who paid Ouyang for this speech?” questioned @Ziyuzilezijiguo.