After some members of a Grade 5 class in Shenzhen’s Xili Subdistrict were being too noisy during a gym class, their teacher punished the whole class by forcing them to stand on one leg and keep one arm in the air for 40 minutes, according to Nanfang Daily.

Needless to say, parents of the students at Fuhua Primary School were outraged and the teacher has been temporarily relieved of the responsiblity of teaching them.

A meeting for the parents was called at the school yesterday and the teacher was forced to explain himself. While he was trying to teach, students wouldn’t stop talking over him, so he forced the whole class to do the pose.

The pose looked something like this

If any student let their arm go down or their leg to touch the ground, he would extend the punishment. The ordeal lasted for 40 minutes.

Education authorities in Nanshan District said this fell under the category of corporal punishment and forcing students into humiliating situations.

Mr. Liu, the principal of the school, said he saw the teacher’s action not as corporal punishment but a “lesson” in balance. No joke. But he yielded to parents and said it would never happen again.

We recently told you about the teacher who stamped students’ faces with ink as punishment. Shenzhen-based anthropologist Mary Ann O’Donnell wrote about it on her blog.

What ever happened to giving students lines?