Father dangles son over river while shouting maths questions

Boy can be heard screaming as his feet near water’s surface before bursting into panicked tears in mobile phone footage

Peter Walker
Wednesday 01 March 2017 13:37 GMT
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The father later said he was punishing the boy for stealing
The father later said he was punishing the boy for stealing

A Chinese man was so eager for his son to learn maths that he dangled him over a river while forcing him to do his sums.

The seven-year-old can be seen sitting precariously on a plank of wood, before he is lowered via a rope and pulley system in video captured by an amateur on a mobile phone.

The boy can be heard screaming as his feet near the water’s surface before bursting into panicked tears as his father shouts maths questions at him.

The child can be heard begging his father to stop during the incident earlier this week beside the Tonghui River in the eastern city of Meishan.

The punishment provoked criticism from viewers of the footage.

Writing on the Chinese video sharing site, miaopai.com, one person wrote: "In the United States, this evil father would be sentenced."

The father reportedly said he was punishing his son for stealing.

China has been praised for its phenomenal output of talent in mathematics, and UK schools minister Nick Gibb last year said primaries would take inspiration from the Shanghai “mastery” approach to maths lessons.

The first school in Europe to teach all its students in both English and Chinese opened in London last year.

British teenagers have also been taught by Chinese teachers in an experiment for a BBC documentary.

The Chinese education system however puts children through a strict Communist Party-set syllabus and practises corporal punishment.

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