Coercive behavior within the education system is not an isolated case, but a recurring type of abuse of power: school authorities coerce students, mentors and teachers coerce students, school authorities or teachers coerce parents, school authorities coerce teachers, principals coerce teachers, and superiors coerce subordinates. Common methods involve using prospects such as graduation, credits, test scores, professional titles, promotions, joining the Party, and civil service exams as leverage, demanding everything from obedience, silence, and concession to monetary or even sexual bribes. This special topic brings together these coercion events that use power within the educational system as leverage.
A parent posted online that the school repeatedly urged their child to get the HPV vaccine. After refusing once, the teacher still stated that without it, "attending school in the second half of the year will be difficult," leading the parent to question if this was a threat.
On October 23, a netizen posted that the class committee of Changchun Humanities College notified students to arrive at the classroom at 6:45 for morning self-study, during which attendance would be taken and phones collected; bringing breakfast, placing water bottles on desks, sleeping, and chatting were strictly prohibited. The author said that not participating would result in deducted academic credits.
On October 9, the official website of the School of Insurance at Central University of Finance and Economics published a legal education article stating that college students who circumvent the Great Firewall are “violating the law simply by using it,” warning that relevant records could affect scholarship evaluations, postgraduate recommendation, civil service exam political vetting, and military enlistment reviews, and demanding that students not promote, not forward, not purchase on behalf of others, and not build proxy tools.
After a student had an accident, the school failed to send them to the hospital in time. Once the incident drew online attention, the school obtained hospital surveillance footage to identify the student who had posted about it. School leaders barged into the student's home, threatening them with expulsion and suspension, forcibly searched the premises and confiscated their phone, and recorded a list of classmates who had reposted the content. Several students were suspended and reprimanded.
On October 2, a netizen revealed that after a student at Xiuyuan Middle School in Shuyang, Suqian, Jiangsu, reported to the education bureau that the school was giving only one and a half days off for the National Day holiday, the student received a phone call from someone claiming to be a teacher in the principal's office, was questioned with "if you don't want to study, then don't," and was scolded. The student's complaint information was suspected of having been handed over to the school. The school responded that it was a teacher's personal act, drawing criticism.
On September 29, a first-year PhD student at Xi’an Jiaotong University posted that after applying to leave campus and go home from the evening of September 30 to the evening of October 7, the student’s advisor demanded that they find another cooperating advisor as soon as possible and removed them from the group chat, citing “incompatible research philosophies.” The leave request was not approved; anyone who leaves will bear the consequences, and the student was also required to clock in at the shared workspace on time.
Xinyi People's Hospital in Maoming, Guangdong Province, was exposed for tying interns' blood donation to a two-day holiday. After relevant complaints were posted online, the head of the hospital's education department demanded in a work group that school team leaders investigate the student who posted it, threatening that if they did not come forward voluntarily, the school would be contacted directly.
On September 18, in a student group chat, a counselor at Dalian Maritime University responded to a student asking if military training assembly times could be announced in advance by saying, "Those who are unsatisfied with the college's arrangements can come to me to process their withdrawal."
On September 20, a grade group notice at Liaoning Normal University stated that students who participate in blood donation can apply for a total of 13 days off combining the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, while those who do not donate blood must attend classes according to the schedule, stating that no special requests will be entertained without special circumstances. This sparked public criticism for using holidays as a bargaining chip for blood donation.
Multiple netizens posted group notices from Liaoning Normal University stating that participating in school-organized blood donations allows students to apply for up to 13 consecutive days off for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays.
During a People's Congress election at a public school in Guangzhou, the administration strictly prohibited teachers from abstaining and privately designated candidates, interfering with the electoral process.
On September 10, 2026, netizens exposed screenshots of some university group chats showing that voluntary blood donation and bone marrow donation can be counted as bonus points for comprehensive evaluation, with bone marrow donation reaching as high as 10 points per time. Upon investigation, the scholarship or comprehensive evaluation review details of universities such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine indeed contain regulations that treat blood donation and hematopoietic stem cell donation as bonus items, sparking public controversy.
Due to over-enrollment, Jingdezhen College organized personnel late at night to forcibly break down doors and pry locks to compel a senior female student to move to a dormitory with poor environment, and threatened her with party membership and civil service exams.
Netizens say a teacher at Jingdezhen University verbally humiliated students during communication and threatened that it would affect Party membership, civil service exams and the disbursement of grants, forcing a female senior student to move out of the dorm.
Over 1,000 students at Xiapu No. 1 Middle School in Fujian staged a collective protest demanding the cancellation of evening self-study before the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday; students said the school threatened them with disciplinary punishment and set up checkpoints to stop them, and their demands were not met.