Parents' onus to curb bullying

The principal and deputy principal of a middle school in Yichuan county, Central China's Henan province, have been removed from their posts because of a bullying incident on campus, the local education authorities said on Tuesday.

This is a rare occasion when the leaders of a school have been held accountable for campus violence - in this instance, two girls took turns to slap another girl in the face - and thus it is being interpreted as the authorities' intensifying efforts to clamp down on it.

The frequent reports of bullying in schools in recent years have sparked widespread concerns about the safety of children and discontent at the ineffective efforts by the schools to curb such acts.