Chinese authorities have suspended a teacher after she was recorded berating her students for not providing teachers with gifts.
Many parents in China's hypercompetitive schooling system use gifts to try to buy influence.
The teacher, Feng Qunchao in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, harangued the high school students throughout the class.
"You don't take this seriously, huh?" she says, according to an audio tape. "Can't afford two or four dollars? You guys are a bunch of trash! A bunch of dog lungs," she adds, using a Chinese insult.
Afterward, the students pooled $100 to buy presents. Feng, though, did not know a student had recorded her tirade. The audio went viral in China and has been heard by millions. The gifts have been returned to the families of the students.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
