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Blood For Extra Credit Points Offer Raises Eyebrows In Test-Mad China
An anonymous reader writes Parents in China's Zhejiang province can give their own blood to earn some extra points on their child's high school entrance exam. Four liters of donated blood will get your child one extra point; 6 liters adds two points; and 8 liters, three. From the article: "The policy burst into the national limelight this week, when a Weibo user posted a photo of a bandaged arm, saying, 'For my future child, I say one thing: Relax when you take the high school entrance exam. Your dad's already helped you gain points.' The post was widely shared. Though the user declined to be interviewed by China Real Time, he also clarified his original post, saying that he had in fact been giving blood since age 18."
Make it on your own.
John
Man that's a lot of blood.
That takes helicopter parenting to a whole new level...
we'll make sure your kid gets to go to college.
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
Does it have to be your own blood?
Is that their culture only allows 1 child, usually male, and that kid is doted on. Of course there is way to much incentive and doting on that one child. Creating the little emperor syndrome (google it) and now we have a government exploiting this. But most likely all this extra donated blood will probably go to waste.
Unless China is ruled by vampires. Which I doubt.
I expect to hear mysterious reports from China of vampire attacks, as thousands of students inexplicably get 24 Credits and graduate. On the good news; blood shortage solved. The drained husks lying in the street won't be getting transfusions.
>>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
It's interesting that they had to clarify that parents may only give their own blood.
i *had* a low uid, but lost it in my lawn
How many points do you get to donate a kidney?
I've given about 90+ pints over the years. Too bad my kids are out of college. I guess I'm not in China either. Maybe we could institute some Social Security points so that I could retire earlier.
A new library wing or gymnasium that just got the generous $20,000 donation will easily get your student accepted into a university regardless of their exam scores.
> Four liters of donated blood will get your child one extra point; 6 liters adds two points; and 8 liters, three.
That's significant if the scores go to 36, like the ACT test. If the max score is 2400, like the SAT, an extra point or three hardly matters.
It's easy to poke fun at this, but maybe it's not so silly.
How much is a "point" worth? (What is the point scale?) If it's a 100-point scale, this might push somebody over the line by a half-grade (in our typical U.S. grading system).
If the parent gives blood as a result, it might mean that they are a good citizen looking out for the welfare of everyone, and that they are concerned about their child's future. This would seem positive for the child's education. If a child is teetering on the edge of some grade category or entrance requirement, then who's to say this isn't as valid as knowledge testing.
Well, it IS an entrance requirement, and so the intent must be to predict future results. So, it seems to have some relevance to me. Sure, it's a bit arbitrary and clearly tied to some unrelated state goal. But might be predictive of future results. The family goes along with the system and pitches-in to help, and so the child will likely do better in school.
It's not much different than considering non-grade aspects for entrance. Yes, the very idea of an entrance requirement for high school (other than making an appearance for n years) is foreign to westerners. But we also do have some tradition of giving some little "extra credit" or recognition for community participation - e.g. clubs and activities, etc. for entrance to college, or to some selective schools, etc. How is this that much different? Yea, it's about the parent, not the child, but I think it is seen as more of a family unit.
Maybe not donating blood for high scroll age, but challenging and substantial social service. If you are at least familiar with a variety of ways to contribute, even if you are only doing it to get points, it's more beneficial to educate you than someone who is not. You will remember these lessons when you are in your 40s and have more free time and empathy.
To put it in perspective, the Red Cross mandates that you can only donate a half-liter of blood every eight weeks. The adult human body only has about five liters of blood in it.
Finally! A form of bribery that almost anyone can afford.
I can't wait for 'big veins' to become a new ethnic slur.
I'm not fat, I'm just big veined.
//TODO: Think of witty sig statement
Hi all,
Medical student here. Two points:
1) This happens in the USA as well; my upper division undergraduate biology courses ALL offered extra credit in exchange for blood donation (or proof of rejection by blood collection centers), though in this case by the students themselves. For minors, substituting donation by the parents makes sense.
2) There is a desperate need for blood donation. Blood substitutes don't work nearly as well as the real thing. As with organ donations, there is far more demand than supply. It saves lives.
Personally, I think the net effect is positive. Linking an important but undervalued action (blood donation) to a highly valued outcome (university admission scores) makes sense.
With the caveat that the execution is well thought out - eg, easy access to donation such as on-site donation drive timed with normal parent activities; award of points to students who can document their inability to donate or parents' unwillingness to donate, with documentation no more onerous to obtain than donation; limiting of effect on score to be more symbolic than a strong determinant of admissions; other things that further consideration would bring out.
I see some highly moderated comments on here building up straw men and then knocking them down. Good job guys.
"Slippery slope" - yeah, it's the name of a logical fallacy for a reason.
The amount of guilt a parent will be able to lay on a kid in China? I gave my blood for you!
since they could never play the "how many hours in labor!!!" card that Moms always could...
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
All bleeding-heartism aside, when will academics actually be about academics?
Slightly tongue in cheek comment, but who knows when it comes to the Chinese! I am guessing they are really looking to use all the blood to offset some of their energy needs by using some sort of technology like this: http://electronics.howstuffwor... Almost the Matrix in real life:)