MCLC: democracy is for cool kids (1)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Simon Laing <slaing4 at gmail.com>
Subject: democracy is for cool kids (1)
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This story reminded me of a story of a Newton exchange that took place in
2001. The students were in China during the time the US spy plane collided
with the Chinese fighter jet which then crashed.

The US plane made an emergency landing on Hainan and the Communist
government had 1 week of nationalism with parades and other anti-US
rhetoric.  At that time the visiting exchange group of Newton students
were taken out of their Chinese school classes and put in a resort hotel
just outside of Beijing.

While the students were sequestered away the Chinese government had the
Chinese students watch nationalist films, sing nationalist songs and learn
anti-western slogans during their classes.

When the US students came back to the school after being away, one Chinese
student to a US student supposedly, said some thing like "Americans are
capitalistic pigs."  The teacher in the class reprimanded and punished the
Chinese student and let it be known that this direct behavior to visiting
students would not be tolerated. This was told to me by one of the parents
who went on the exchange.

It seems teenagers on both sides like to push the boundaries.

Warm Regards,
Simon Laing