Episode Information

China, one of the world’s fastest growing economies, has a fast-growing problem. The past decade has seen a rapid rise in badly behaved children. Unruliness, underage drinking, aggression, truancy, teenage pregnancies and suicide are all on the rise. As many as 20% of children in China exhibit behavioural problems. And with 367 million under-18s, China it’s a problem that can’t be ignored. This film looks at an unorthodox solution to the problem. New kinds of schools are springing up across China. These special private schools use discipline and military regimes to turn problem children around. They’re educational boot camps that re-build children from the ground up. This film focuses on one of China’s most well-known brat academies. It’s run by the charismatic Xu Xiangyang. With his shaved head and wrap-around sunglasses he’s the antithesis of a classic school headmaster. He runs his school with an iron fist.