On January 30th, the World Health Organization declared Wuhan Coronavirus a global health emergency. As of February 12th, there have been 45,000+ confirmed cases, with 1,000+ deaths and 4,800+ recoveries. There haven’t been any cases in Romania, but something else has started to spread quicker than the virus: xenophobic bullying.
Unfortunately, AISB is not an exception.
Response from school admin
On January 30th, AISB Director Peter Welch emailed teachers that “some members of our Chinese student community have been targeted by some negative or prejudicial comments with the outbreak of the coronavirus in China,” and asked them to be “vigilant about this issue and proactive in challenging stereotypical thinking.”
A day later, Secondary Vice Principal Fiona Moss addressed the same issue to the students on Vampire Diaries. “It is extremely important that we are respectful of all of our community members with the illnesses that are circulating,” she wrote. “Our expectation is clear – we do not tolerate prejudice or unkindness.”
School leadership confirmed that this response was prompted by parent complaints and concerns.
The Bite reached out to seven Chinese high school students, but most were reluctant about being interviewed–stating they wanted to “avoid causing problems” or “creating unnecessary conflicts with their classmates.”
Prejudice exists at AISB
Like most cases of racism or bullying at this school, recent comments about Chinese people or Asians in general have been played off as jokes. But to many members of our community (Asian or otherwise), it’s not only not funny, but also spreads misinformation about the coronavirus.
Welch confirms that two weeks ago he received a note from a parent stating that some of the Chinese students were called “the sick” and “trash,” and were excluded by other students. There were also several Chinese students who were asked several times, “Do you have the virus?”
Many teachers have confirmed hearing ill-intentioned “jokes” urging students to stay away from Chinese students, and one high school student (who wishes to remain anonymous) reported an incident where a peer advised everyone to sit away from her because “The Chinese all have the Wuhan virus.”
But this isn’t happening just in the upper secondary school. Rather, misunderstandings and ignorance seem to be more prevalent among younger students. For example, a Chinese student recently had an elementary schooler run up to her and ask, “Do you have the coronavirus?” The student was mistaken for being infected by the virus because she was wearing a mask at the time, simply for sanitary reasons.
“I have seen the middle-schoolers play all sorts of games like tag… ‘you have the coronavirus’…‘now you have the coronavirus’,” says Middle School Counselor Stephanie Finnell. She points out that while the students think this is harmless, it can be very upsetting for Chinese students–especially those who have family still in China.
High School Counselor Michaela Young adds that some Asian parents have excused their children from social gatherings to prevent making other kids feel “uncomfortable.”
Discrimination outside of school
A Chinese upper secondary student and his parents have recently experienced discriminatory treatment in Bucharest. His dad struggled to find a hospital that agreed to treat his common flu, while his mom was stopped at passport control for “extra screening.” Moreover, the student’s dentist appointment was pushed back by 60 days for “safety reasons.”
“My dad went to the hospital and got rejected by every doctor. They said they don’t have doctors at the moment, or that they’re booked,” he says. “I guess it’s common for people to think that all Chinese come from the Hubei region. Like we’re gonna spread [the virus] or have it. We don’t.”
Other non-Chinese Asian students report having been influenced by the outbreak. “I was able to get through the passport control using an automated kiosk at the end of January,” says Korean student Flora P. “A week or so later, my dad was stopped at the same airport for quite a while and asked several questions, like whether he’s been to China. It’s definitely gotten worse over a short period of time.”
Spreading myths and misinformation
In general, there has been a sharp increase in the number of conspiracy theories and memes about the virus circulating the internet. Many anonymous students also note seeing members of our community sharing racist jokes related to the epidemic.
What people say on social media, such as through text or memes, is difficult to control. However, we’re the ones deciding whether to correct what’s wrong or to simply laugh it off. Like Secondary Principal Jonathan Cain says, “Schools reflect the world,” and students are responsible for differentiating facts and rumors based on fear.
The myths about the virus have also become much more widespread. For example, the coronavirus is not as deadly as the flu. According to AISB Secondary Admin Assistant Florentina Frunza, more than 35 of our secondary students have contracted influenza in the last week alone.
Cain adds that “Tobacco probably is more dangerous than influenza, considering the percentage of our students that are smoking.” He continues, “To me that’s more of a concern than the influenza virus or the coronavirus, because that will have a major long term effect on their lives. […] Working out what really has a major impact on our school and our youth today is important.”
This by no means signifies that the coronavirus is not a real global health concern. But it’s also of utmost importance to correctly inform ourselves and dismiss evidence distorted to fit a certain narrative.
Challenging xenophobia
In the end, it’s important to avoid spreading rumors that create a hostile environment and essentially just divide us. Cain emphasizes, “I don’t think there’s any link between a person’s ethnicity and the ability to contract a virus. […] I think it’s how we should view it as well. It’s a challenge that the world is facing and we should face it together.”
Welch adds, “I think it’s the kind of stereotyping and prejudice behavior that we need to challenge. It’s an aspect of judging people on the way they look, which is a cousin of racism.” He goes on, “People who say these [racist] remarks need to understand how ill-judged and hurtful they can be.”
Many are trapped in fear of being infected by the virus and forget that an entire nation is in lockdown–victims are abandoned due to lack of resources, and hundreds are dying. We must remember that the coronavirus outbreak is a tragedy, not a justification for xenophobia and racism. We should be spreading hope, not hate.
*Additional editing and reporting by Flora P.
I find it incredible how you adressed this topic; your article is beautifully written and spreads a very powerful message. Thank you for all your work. <3
It seems that no matter where you go xenophobia follows and it’s really sad to see this happening to so many people. The people interviewed should not be afraid to speak out as this is a problem that needs to be addressed.
A really well-written article, well done.
Congratulations Chi and Kristina for writing this article! It’s a great article with an important message to it. In regards to xenophobia, I think that as a community, we should not tolerate this and instead, we should support each other.
This is a very important article since racism and xenophobia are just counter-intuitive. Instead of spending our time spreading jokes we should make sure that we are all safe. Also, we should be deceived by misinformation on the internet. I think that saying the flue is more dangerous than the Coroa virus is unesserary because the possibility of the virus spreading to romania and becoming a bigger deal internationally is real and instead of saying that the flue is more dangerous we should prevent it from going to that point.
This is a great article! Good job Chi and Kristina on this and hopefully will help stop the racism.
Good job ya’ll! Thanks for calling out this ignorance and hurtful behaviour. We are better than this! So glad people are speaking out against racism and xenophobia.
Beautiful piece of work, carrying an important message to us readers. 非常感谢！
Thank you for writing about this important topic. Your article is powerful and well-written. Hopefully it will inspire some thoughtful conversations and action in the community.
Thank you for your thoughtful and honest look at this issue. The Bite contributors continue to amaze me every day.
Before anything, I’d like to give a big shoutout to Chi and Kristina for their courage in writing this article, raising a red flag about this very current and concerning issue of rising xenophobia and racism.
Such hateful behaviors ought have no place in our community. Thank you for reminding us of our duty as a community to stand together against such hurtful behaviors.
This is amazing. Truly a great piece of work. As a teacher who lives in China but is NOT Asian, I am currently facing a very small portion of this same thing in the US. I chose to leave China until this blows over but my heart is still with Its People.嘉友!
Wow–when I back back from THIMUN, I thought the airport was bad, but this takes it to another level entirely!! I had no idea that this was happening. Thank you for opening my eyes!!!!
Thanks for writing this important article!
This is such a good article. It is obviously well-researched and articulated in a very clear manner. You have addressed two very important topics in one article.
Spread hope, not hate! Love it.
Thank you for sharing.
Loved reading this and so well written. This feeds positively into our empathy as a community. Thank you for taking this on.
Very well researched and written, great images and an important topic for all of us to reflect on our own thinking and behaviours. The comments also reflect the continued call for all of use in our community to stand up to help AISB to become a kinder, more thoughtful and inclusive community. Thank you Chi, Kristina and The Bite team for “stepping out” and leading the way!
Incredible work Chi and Kristina! Thank you for bringing light to such a critical yet under-recognized issue at AISB… I look forward to seeing more positive responses and actions from our community. I’m so proud and glad to have worked with you on this article 🙂
This is a thought-provoking and important article. Well done to you all in addressing this issue with the humanity that it requires.
This is a great article that reveals the hardships that some people have gone through because of spread of misinformation and rumors. Like the article said, the spread of these false facts are dangerous, so students should be able to stop discrimination and identify false rumors and try to stop the spread of them.
Thanks for this moving article, Kristina and Chi! 非常感谢你们！We need to be vigilant for the hidden racism and expose it for what it is!
My big respect is with the Chinese people and how they cope with this difficult challenge and human tragedy!
Coronavirus infection is indeed a big threat, especially since many are unknown in terms of detection, spread, effective treatment and complications over time. But this is precisely why we need to show solidarity, empathy and support, and xenophobia must be discouraged, as well as other manifestations of behavior that denotes ignorance or the desire for bad jokes. Congratulations on the courage to reveal these behavioral anomalies Chi and Kristina!
I am so sorry to hear about these difficult experiences. I am glad the school is not only addressing them internally but giving you a platform to discuss the issues to raise awareness. I hope this gives you more control over this unfortunate circumstance and helps people who have behaved in xenophobic ways reflect on their actions and prejudices. Best of luck!
I teach Kindergarten at the International School of Kenya. Recently my students have been obsessed with talking about the virus. As 5-6 year olds, they don’t have accurate information or the language to express their feelings. Many children are scared and having trouble sleeping. Today we had a conversation about “facts and rumours”. Your chart of myths and facts was very helpful. Thanks for writing such a powerful piece. I’ve shared it with our parent community.