Boy made to sit alone in class because teacher thinks the cancer he has is contagious

A 13-year-old Chinese boy with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma recently transferred to Liancheng Primary School in Quanzhou, Fujian. He wanted to be closer to his parents while recovering from chemotherapy treatment.

However, at the new school, his teacher isolated him from the rest of the students because of his illness. The teacher believed the teenager was contagious.

Zhou is a primary school teacher in south-east China at Liancheng Primary School. He was recently suspended after he was accused of discriminating against a student with cancer.

Xiaozhou, 13, was made to sit away from the rest of his classmates because he had Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. The teenager wasn’t allowed to take exams because Zhou thought he was contagious.

For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. Xiaozhou’s father, Zhou Xiongying, made the allegations on social media after his son explained why he didn't receive a mark for a midterm examination.

According to the teenager, Zhou forbade him from sitting with other students in class or to take exams because of his ignorance about cancer. This caused Xiaozhou to miss three exams.

On social media, videos and images showed the boy sitting at a desk a distance behind the rest of the class. Xiongying was not pleased with the treatment his son received.

He said:

“Can you imagine what was going through my son's mind during the 45-minute exam? He's forced to sit there like a fool. How sad must he have been?”

The teenager was diagnosed with the disease a year ago. However, after receiving chemotherapy, he was given a clean bill of health by his doctor.

Zhou, who also held the position of vice-principal, has since been suspended, according to the Fujian Huian Education Ministry.

They stated:

“The Hui'an County Education Bureau recently learned about the unfair treatment of a student in Liancheng Primary School and immediately launched an investigation. Zhou, the responsible teacher, has been relieved of his duties as vice-principal and suspended from his position.”

In the US, Kerri Mascareno, an Albuquerque mother, said she was banned from her daughter's elementary school by the principal for the way she smells. Mascareno was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer in August and is undergoing chemotherapy to shrink the tumor.

The principal at Tierra Antigua Elementary, Robert Abney, told her she could no longer visit the school. According to him, she made the staff ill.