Assignment3 Part2 Article4

College Students Drowned to Save Two Kids
What We Have Learnt from This?

Three 19-year-old college students drowned when trying to save two kids near Baota Bay in Changsha around 3pm on 24^th October 2009.

More than ten students from Changjiang University were enjoying picnic on the river bank before two kids not far away suddenly fell into the Changjiang River. After realising most of them couldn't swim, the students decided to build a bridge by holding hands together so that they could reach the struggling kids in the water (see Picture 1). However, one of the students loosened his grip out of exhaustion after a short while and six students then fell into the river. The winter swimmers who reached there later managed to save the kids and three students, but three other students drowned in the end unfortunately.

Picture 1

Picture by CCTV

According to some reports, the three students drowned could have been saved by local fishers who refused to carry out any rescue action but chose to look on with folded arms. After ensuring the students were sure to be drowned, the fishers asked the other students and the college teachers (who arrived there later) for 36,000 RMB (around US$5,000) in total to salvage the bodies out of the river (see Picture 2). The desperate students and teachers had to went back home to collect or borrow money in order to take back the bodies of the three students. Eventually, the fishers agreed to return the bodies for 33,000 RMB (more than US$4,800) after the kneeling and begging from the students and teachers who couldn’t come out with more money.

Picture 2

Picture by Xianming, Liu

According to the further investigations carried out by the local government, the fishers who asked for money to salvage the bodies actually rely on such business to earn a living. The water around that bay is extremely dangerous for unprofessional swimmers, and many people have drowned over decades because of the strong undercurrent and eddy current in the area. Thus a small group of local fishers decided fishing dead bodies was a much more profitable business than fishing fish.

The incident has evoked strong criticism and intense debate within hinese society recently. Many people said the fishers’ inhuman behaviour was inexcusable and unforgivable. And it is definitely difficult to believe such horrible thing can happen in today’s civilised society. Moreover, some people said the college students shouldn’t try to save others if they didn’t know how to swim themselves.

But apart from feeling sorrow and angry, what should we actually learn from such tragedy? How do we make sure such thing won’t happen again in future?

First, there is a huge sign on the bank saying it’s a dangerous area and swimming is strictly prohibited (see Picture 3), then why the kids were still swimming there? Why the college students were having picnic so near to the water? Shouldn’t they be taught to follow the instructions on the sign? Also, why the kids were there by themselves without adults supervising them?

Picture 3

Picture by JZnews

Second, it’s very worrying that most students did not even know how to swim when the tragedy happened. Swimming is such a basic survival skill but usually it is not a compulsory subject in Chinese high schools. Instead, new students in high school or college are required to take basic military trainings. But aren’t swimming much more important than learning goose steps, particularly in cities near river and sea?

Third, all schools do not teach self-rescue or resuscitation measures in China. Consequently, students don’t have any clue about how to deal with emergencies. Chinese government should realise this as soon as possible, and make swimming and self-rescue compulsory subjects for kids.

Fourth, there was no river guard appointed by the local authority near the river bank. The local government didn’t even seem to have a protocol to deal with such cases. When emergency happens, people had no one to turn to. Probably this was exactly why the fishers could earn huge money from such a dreadful way—no one has been there to stop them at all.