School found partly liable after student suffers mental breakdown from horror film

BEIJING - A Chinese secondary school has been held partly responsible after a female student suffered a mental breakdown triggered by watching a horror movie during a self-study session in Hengzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The student, known as Zihan, watched the horror film with several classmates after obtaining permission from their teacher to engage in independent class activities.

However, later that night, Zihan began behaving erratically and spoke incoherently while communicating online with her mother.

She was rushed to hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with an acute mental health disorder caused by psychological stress.

Believing that the movie was the cause of her condition, Zihan’s family demanded compensation from the school.

The school, however, denied negligence and argued that the incident stemmed from the student’s pre-existing health issues.

It stated that it would only accept 10 per cent of the responsibility, citing its existing mental health education measures.

The Hengzhou Court later ruled that the school bore 30 per cent of the responsibility, noting that the screening was conducted with the teacher’s approval.

The case has since gone viral on Chinese social media, where many users criticised the decision to show a horror film as part of classroom activities.

Some questioned whether teachers should be more discerning when approving such content for students.