Can students skip classes?

gzlaser

IT is a tradition in Chinese culture that students respect their teachers almost as much as their parents. As for the teachers themselves, they should strive to maintain the dignity of their position by doing their best to pass knowledge on to students. They should also set a good example, both in the pursuit of knowledge and in their moral integrity.

Some recent events, however, have raised great doubts over whether this tradition is still relevant in today's China. A classroom altercation between a famous professor and a female student at the Chinese University of Political Science and Law stirred a fierce debate last week.

Yang Fan, the professor, was annoyed that students in his elective class were leaving his classroom soon after he began his lecture. He launched into a heated speech against their disrespect. When another female student got up several minutes later to leave the classroom, Yang cursed the student. The two got into a scuffle before university security arrived.

The debate intensified when Xiao Han, an associate professor at the university, criticized Yang in his blog for losing his dignity as a teacher. He claimed that \"students' skipping classes is a symbol of freedom\". Many netizens disagreed, saying personal freedom isn't an excuse to be rude and unreasonable.

What do you think? Should students have the freedom to leave a teacher's class if they don't like what they are being taught?