A kindergarten in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China has come under fire for its highly inappropriate decision to include scantily clad performers to do sexually provocative pole dance numbers on stage as part of its ceremony to welcome students back at the start of the school year.
Many parents were horrified at the sight of women wearing skimpy outfits as they performed on stagein front of many students that are reported to be below the age of 6 at the Xinshahui Kindergarten on September 3, The Star reported.
Footage of the performance was shared online and soon went viral on Chinese social media with one user from Weibo, China’s own Twitter-like platform, saying: “I really don’t want to know what the headmaster was thinking,” according to BBC.
“This type of dancing is not suitable for a kindergarten,” a Weibo user wrote.
“Well, I’m speechless. Pole-dancing could be an Olympic sport in the future. It’s an art form. Should it be denounced because performers don’t wear much? Do you cover your eyes when you watch diving events and figure skating?” another user wrote.
Michael Standaert, an expat writer based in Shenzhen, shared a few videos on his Twitter that were all taken during the ceremony at the kindergarten.
So before our kids got out of kindergarten for the summer, there was 10 days of military “activities” and displays of machine guns and mortars at the door; now the principal has welcomed them back with a strip pole dance on the flagpole bearing the PRC flag. She’s gone nuts. pic.twitter.com/BJr4UI6Oq3
— Michael Standaert (@mstandaert) September 3, 2018
Who would think this is a good idea? We’re trying to pull the kids out of the school and get our tuition back. They wouldn’t give us the number of the company that owns the school, but looking into that. pic.twitter.com/vEdIhuq774
— Michael Standaert (@mstandaert) September 3, 2018
The principal hung up on my wife when she called after saying it was “international and good exercise” … okay, yeah for adults maybe, but not 3-6 year old kids. pic.twitter.com/OAw8S5ihzX
— Michael Standaert (@mstandaert) September 3, 2018
After receiving massive backlash from furious parents, the local Bao’an Education Bureau carried an investigation regarding the incident and instructed the kindergarten to offer an apology for the highly inappropriate show. Its principal, identified as Lai Rong, was ultimately fired.
Here’s the Bao’an education bureau’s announcement about the firing of Ms. Lai. Parents had already complained to the police, the bureau and called Chinese media before I’d even posted anything here. pic.twitter.com/ujL3dtTLwR
— Michael Standaert (@mstandaert) September 3, 2018
Lai has since apologized for the performance even before the involvement of the education bureau in the defense that she thought, “inviting professional dancers to the kindergarten to perform for the parents would liven up the mood” for the students’ first day back to school.
“I did not think through the contents of the performance . . . It was a very terrible viewing experience for the kids and the parents. For that, I sincerely apologize,” she continued in a Weibo report, as reported by The Washington Post.
“I was thinking of asking the forgiveness from the parents and also promising them that we would not teach the kids this kind of dance. I just want the kids to know the existence of this kind of dance. That’s all,” she told the publication.
Images screenshot via Twitter / mstandaert
