‘Bunny Suicides’ Cartoon Book Pulled in China after Boy, 12, Kills Himself

Published on September 14th, 2008

A cartoon book has been taken off the shelves by a Shanghai bookstore over fears that it has contributed to a spate of suicides and suicide attempts by children.

Bookuu Book City has stopped selling ‘Book of Bunny Suicides: Little Fluffy Rabbits Who Just Don’t Want To Live Anymore’ after a 12-year-old boy killed himself and four teenagers attempted suicide.

The book shows a rabbit trying to kill himself in various bizarre ways.
[...]
Now the bookstore is stocking more psychological help guides instead.

The decision reflects unease and soul-searching over the pressures on Chinese students.

“We took the ‘Bunny Suicides’ cartoon books off our shelves because we’re worried that children might try to imitate some of those ways of killing themselves,” said Zhu Bin, a public relations officer for the bookseller.

Sounds like a sick comedy book for adults to me. What parent would buy this book for their kid?

21 users responded in " ‘Bunny Suicides’ Cartoon Book Pulled in China after Boy, 12, Kills Himself "

Subscribe to this post comment rss or trackback url

# 1 Ah_Yea said, on September 14th, 2008 at 12:13 pm

On my last trip to China, one of my business partners and I were walking past a High School just as the Senior class had finished their final exams.

For some, there was happiness, and for most others, it was like attending a funeral.

This is how education works in China. If you did well in elementary school, you get to go to a more prestigious middle school. If you didn’t do well, you either go to a “common” middle school or to none at all.

If you did well in High School, as determined by the score on your final exams, which usually last 2 to 3 DAYS, you go to college. If you did really well, you get to go overseas. If you did really, really well you get to go to America.

If you screwed up, you get to spend the rest of your life shoveling horse droppings with no chance for anything better.

Although the government hides this, it is commonly known that the suicide rates among Chinese kids is through the roof. Specially right after finals.

# 2 Jägermeister said, on September 14th, 2008 at 12:32 pm

The Bunny Suicides

#1 – Ah_Yea – If you did well in High School, as determined by the score on your final exams, which usually last 2 to 3 DAYS, you go to college. If you did really well, you get to go overseas. If you did really, really well you get to go to America.

The competition is truly fierce.

As a side note to your excellent post… If your parents are rich, you can go pretty much anywhere in the world, as long as the University accepts you.

# 3 Jimbo said, on September 14th, 2008 at 12:33 pm

So what you’re saying is, China’s school systems are like everybody else in the world except the US? Education is a privilege there?

# 4 hhopper said, on September 14th, 2008 at 12:36 pm

Yeah and in the U.S., many kids don’t even want an education.

# 5 Jägermeister said, on September 14th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

#3 – Jimbo – So what you’re saying is, China’s school systems are like everybody else in the world except the US?

The ratio of people/available spots is way higher at Chinese Universities than in any western country.

#4 – hhopper

And some parents don’t want their kids to be educated.

# 6 Ah_Yea said, on September 14th, 2008 at 12:52 pm

#2 Jägermeister. You’re exactly right. A LOT of money.
For the US, the exchange rate is about 6.5 Chinese dollars to one US dollar. So a good education here in the US would cost at least $250,000 Chinese dollars. Out of reach for most except the very rich.

#3 Jimbo. Education, or at least an education worth anything, is an earned privilege in China. For most, it’s the only way out of poverty. You miss that opportunity while young and naive, and you get to regret it the rest of your life.

#4 hhopper. You said it! This is one of the things which scares me the most about the US at present. How are we going to remain a competitive country given how poorly educated the average US citizen is?
http://tinyurl.com/56xpzb
The charts midway down tell the story.

# 7 Jägermeister said, on September 14th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

#6 – Ah_Yea

True. But 250k Yuan is no longer out of reach if your mom or dad is running a company… or is a high ranking commie.

# 8 Improbus said, on September 14th, 2008 at 1:42 pm

In America the smarter you are the more you are despised. You have to play dumb if you don’t want your daily beating/teasing. That is the real reason Republicans can’t stand Obama. He makes them seem stupid by comparison.

# 9 bobbo said, on September 14th, 2008 at 1:50 pm

I still remember the pressure to get good grades to get into the “X” classes in High School which were the premium college prep courses. Then there were about 2-3 high stress tests after that given the academic track I was on.

So-yes, there are JC colleges (high schools with ash trays) that take everyone they can get, and religious based schools taking anyone with the tuition.

But still, in the USA for those motivated to really succeed, yes, competition, stress, tests, and failure is there.

# 10 eyeofthetiger said, on September 14th, 2008 at 2:11 pm

How many ways with house hold appliances can a bunny “off” itself? DVD player is surely impressive.

# 11 Zybch said, on September 14th, 2008 at 2:37 pm

You can see all the cartoons here:
http://tinyurl.com/yrws32

# 12 Jim said, on September 14th, 2008 at 3:04 pm

I have a few of the books, they are actually funny in a macabre way if you’re in the right mood and place for them. Funny how the Chinese are doing the same thing people here do, blaming a book rather than their parenting.

Guess we are all human after all.

# 13 lakelady said, on September 14th, 2008 at 3:59 pm

I guess something got lost in translation. Which is especially odd since there are few/no word associated with these images.

and

Improbus – they are stupid by comparison

# 14 Angel H. Wong said, on September 14th, 2008 at 4:23 pm

“Sounds like a sick comedy book for adults to me. What parent would buy this book for their kid?”

Maybe because during the 80s and the 90s many outside the USA perceived all that obssession with censorship coming from that country as nothing but BS and simply let KIDS go watch movies like Aliens and Predator without much worry at all. In fact, kids here back then never did something as stupid as copy from the TV or a cartoon just like the kids from the USA did as always.

Nowadays with the constant evangelization of this continent south of the border we are seeing the same BS “for the safety of the kids” obssession with censorship… Not to mention that kids are getting dumber and now are copying the things they see on the TV and on the cartoons.

Maybe the kids in china are being americanized and are behaving more like the dumb idiots the child safety advocates are pleaching to censor.

# 15 denacron said, on September 14th, 2008 at 4:35 pm

Thanks for the link Zybch!
If we could distill pure stupidity, it would make for an easily understood common language.
For some reason I expected more intelligence from the Chinese. We are not as a separate nation too removed from common idiocy.
The cartoons are very Gary Larson’ish, I approve!
-Dennis-

# 16 Ah_Yea said, on September 14th, 2008 at 5:49 pm

#11 Zybch. Yes, thanks for the link!

It’s pretty funny!

From a morbid sense of humor view, with such good and funny ways to off yourself, why did these Chinese guys decide to go the traditional routes?

Such a lack of imagination.

BTW, more interesting stuff from the article.

“According to a recently issued report by the China Mental Health Association, suicide is the leading cause of death for Chinese aged 15-34, with the national rate triple the world average.”
(Nope, it’s way worse than 3 times the world average. This is all the Government would admit to.)
“Those children suffer from a lack of real love from the family, or they’re suffering heavy study burdens,” said Li Shuzhen, a consultant at the Psychological Health Education Center at Shanghai’s Fudan University.
(How about both?)
Withdrawing the book is “better than nothing,” she said. “But what I care about is whether it would help. We need to appeal to the public to care more about teenagers’ mental health.”
(Nope, removing the book won’t help. The book is just a scapegoat, a way to save face. Blame the book! Yea, that’s it!)

# 17 gtrogue said, on September 14th, 2008 at 6:20 pm

# 6 Ah_Yea,
I think what goes unnoticed and unreported about test scores, and some have mentioned this, is the difference in our education systems.

In most other countries, most much smaller than the U.S., only the elite students actually take these tests. In the U.S. every student takes these tests whether they are college material or not.
If you compared the test scores of only the upper echelon of students in the U.S. the ranking would be much different.
In all these comparisons we are comparing apples to oranges.

BTW, I live in China and I can tell you their education system is not even close to the quality of the U.S.

# 18 Ah_Yea said, on September 14th, 2008 at 6:39 pm

#17 gtrouge, Absolutely.

The vast majority of Chinese really never get the chance to progress educationally simply because the system (educational and government) can’t support it.

I only occasionally work in China, and since TIHE_HO mysteriously stopped posting just before the Olympics, we haven’t had another viewpoint since.

Good to have you on board!

# 19 Woolly Mittens said, on September 14th, 2008 at 11:22 pm

It’s NOT a childrens book. Geez. And since when does the party approve reading?

# 20 Jess Hurchist said, on September 15th, 2008 at 12:12 am

“What parent would buy this book for their kid?”

That’d be me. The younger one wanted it, both boys (14 and 11) and I read it, both boys are still alive, and, although if pushed I’d describe myself as a dead hippy, so am I.
The book has been out since before the Christmas before last and long enough for a sequel, I don’t remember a rash of suicides all over the UK in the interim.

# 21 the answer said, on September 15th, 2008 at 7:59 am

No one ever gave Gorey grief… and this looks like a ripoff of his style. Minus the goth / teen angst

Leave Your Reply Below...

Comment Moderation is Active, so if your comment doesn't
show up immediately, please don't submit it again.

Special Deals 4U

25% off eHarmony subscription with code EHTECH
12-percent discount forever with code TECH
10-percent discount and free month using TECH10
10-percent or 30 dollars off weekly car rental!
Get 10-percent discount on car rental!
Get 10% off rental cars!
Get 10% off Dollar rentals!
Discounts on domain names!