Social Experiment

Last week I was able to conduct an interesting social experiment in my classes. The lesson topic was Super Heroes and the language objective was reinforcements of basic plurals and singulars. Out of this mixture arose an interesting game, which required critical thinking and consideration of ethics.

I set up six teams in the classroom and gave each team a few super heroes. I then gave the class a series of scenarios where two different locations needed help at the same time, one an individual one a group.

There were several different choices to consider such as whether to save a woman who had been kidnapped by pirates or a group of old women who had their money stolen and between helping cars in a traffic jam or a broken down bus full of school children. I got several interesting and amusing answers such as: I will help the woman because she’s sexy, I will help the old women because the elderly should come first, I will help the old women because I like money, I will help the bus because children are our future and they need an education, and I will help the cars because I hate school. 

But the scenario I thought produced the most interesting results was a choice between a political official (Xi Jin Ping/ Li Ke Qiang) who had been kidnapped and a robbery where several peoples’ lives were in danger and the bank account of hundreds of people could potentially be stolen. In almost all the classes, the results were half and half. I got quite the diversity of answers.

Some groups chose to save the political official because he is important for the country, but others would pick the people. One boy said he would pick the people because the loss of all that money would severally damage the economy. Another girl said that she would save the people because another leader could always be selected to replace the assassinated leader but a country would be nothing without its people. Another boy made a very bold statement when he quoted Mao Zedong as saying that all people are equal regardless of position, pretty much stating that it doesn’t matter how important Xi Jin Ping is. In a choice between saving lives, the many always comes before the one. One kid plainly blurted out that he didn’t like Xi Jin Ping at all and so he wanted to save the people!! Instead of gasped this statement only received laughter from his fellow students.

This game demonstrated to me that even at a young age, Chinese people have little patriotic obsession over their technocratic leaders, and in the right setting you can get a lot of dissenting opinions out of them.

However this doesn’t mean that Chinese people completely speak freely about their opinions regarding political officials. In one class, a group of educators sat in and observed the session. They seemed to generally enjoy the lesson, but they did have an effect on student answers in regards to this scenario. Only one team picked the people in the robbery over the political official in this class, and all the answers in support of saving the official came off as a bland statement referencing how important Xi Jin Ping was for the country and how China wouldn’t be able to progress without him. Given the circumstances I decided not to press the students on their answers.

However, I don’t want to give the impression that all teachers and educators mindlessly support the Communist Party. While party members usually head school administrations, I have talked to a few teachers at my school (all female too) who have openly denounced the effects of the Cultural Revolution on Chinese society. But like their students, these teachers are far less bold in front of their superiors.

Also my neighborhood in Shenzhen (Overseas Chinese Town) is unique in China. Shenzhen itself is sort of a bubble. It’s a special economic zone that has been officially capitalist for thirty years. It’s right next to Hong Kong where newspapers and books with views not condoned by the Communist Party can be easily purchased. Most people in the inner districts own their own computer and even in the outer districts an Internet Café isn’t too far away. Most importantly, the economic prosperity, wealth, and opportunity that can be found in Shenzhen has bolstered a vibrant Middle Class in areas such as my neighborhood of OCT/Window of the World.

An area dominated by a Middle Class is more likely to have a louder and more diverse array of opinions as opposed to some village in Guizhou where people don’t have the luxury to ponder the socioeconomic issues facing 21^st Century China.  Shenzhen is way ahead of most of China in regards to political and economic perspectives. However, Shenzhen is a good place to observe changing Chinese perspectives that within 10-20 years very well could be the norm.