Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Hou You-yi/Facebook
AN INCIDENT INVOLVING a teacher drugging students with sleeping pills in Banqiao, New Taipei, has become a scandal for New Taipei mayor Hou You-yi. Seeing as Hou is running for president as the KMT’s presidential issue, the scandal could prove an issue for his campaigning.
In June, police detained seven teachers at the school, as well as the school’s principal, for questioning. The school, which is a location of nationwide chain Kid Castle, was searched twice by police. This took place on June 6th. Further searches of the homes of the teachers were later carried out.
A teacher at the school surnamed Chao is thought to have given students barbiturates, as well as carried out improper corporal punishment. Chao was originally taken in for questioning by police on May 18th, but was released on 20,000 NT bail.
Since the initial series of detentions, there have been calls for testing of students to see if they were affected by the drugs that they had been administered. Namely, parents began observing behavioral changes in their students from February to April.
The parents of three teachers initially made allegations against the school on May 14th, after which Chao was taken in for questioning. By now, seventeen parents of students have now filed police reports.
It is thought that Chao may have given students barbiturates to make them more obedient. However, concerns have been raised about the developmental effects that barbiturates could have on the children. On June 10th, a teacher at the Kid Castle location stated that children had been given cough medicine, which took place with the consent of parents, but denied giving them barbiturates.
Subsequently, with news reports of the students being drugged, there were calls for the testing of students, as well as concerns that this could be taking place at other schools.
Testing conducted in June showed that barbiturates were present in the blood of some students at the kindergarten. On June 11th, the New Taipei city government stated that the blood tests showed trace amounts of phenobarbital, a barbiturate that is used in cough medicine, in three students two of which had higher concentrations in their blood. Tests conducted on twenty of the school’s 67 students were negative. On June 8th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Taipei Hospital began providing urine tests for students of the kindergarten as well.
One student that attended another Kid Castle location in Xizhi was found to have traces of barbiturates in their blood. As a result, over 80 students at this location were tested for traces of barbiturates with various tests, though the New Taipei city government later announced on June 19th that only one result warranted follow-up testing.
On June 17th, the Taipei city government under Chiang Wan-an, too, later announced it would be offering testing for kindergarten students, with fears spreading about the use of barbiturates at other Kid Castle locations. Chiang may be aiming to avoid the scandal also tarnishing his mayoral administration. Subsequently, the New Taipei government stated that free drug and urine tests would be made available at the Cathay General Hospital Xizhi Branch, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, Mackay Memorial Hospital Tamsui branch, New Taipei City Hospital Sanchong Branch, Taipei Medical University Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, and Tucheng Municipal Hospital. The New Taipei city council has approved special funding for testing.
For its part, Kid Castle has stated that it did not directly operate the kindergarten where the drugging incidents are purported to have taken place, and that it would terminate its relationship with the school, whose license was revoked.
Backlash over the incident was large enough that 1,000 parents rallied in front of the New Taipei city government on June 18th, calling for accountability. Among the speakers were Claire Wang and Angela Wang of the NPP, with Wang known as the mother of child murder victim “Little Lightbulb”, and Wang being the chair of the Taiwan Children’s Rights Association.
Comments by NPP speakers criticized the New Taipei government for waiting until June 5th to start testing students, twenty-two days after initial reports were filed, suggesting that the traces of barbiturates would be low by that point in time. Likewise, Hou You-yi was criticized for not stopping by at the rally despite being at the New Taipei city government building to officiate a wedding at the time the rally took place.
New Taipei DPP city councilors have also called for monitoring of security cameras at kindergartens for wrongdoing. The National Federation of Teachers Unions, too, has condemned the actions of the teachers involved.
Hou has stated that an office will be set up at the Juguang Elementary School with specialists to provide for testing with other needs. Hou met with parents and New Taipei Education Department Commissioner Chang Ming-wen, stating that he will conduct further meetings with parents as well. To this extent, Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-i has been appointed by the Examination Yuan to head up a cross-ministerial task force to probe the situation, keep parents informed, and protect children’s health.
At the same time, Hou’s mayoral administration has hit back against the DPP with claims that the DPP is spreading disinformation about the kindergarten incidents to attack his campaign and that judgments on the case and the origins of the drug are premature. Hou himself, however, has condemned the teachers involved, even as it is to be expected that the pan-Green camp will continue to attack him over the issue. It is not the first time that Hou has come under scrutiny for issues involving child welfare either, as observed with the “En En” scandal during COVID-19.