Viral 'pen gun' DIY videos spark safety concerns in Chinese schools

(ECNS) -- Viral videos teaching students to transform ordinary ballpoint pens into makeshift "pen guns" have ignited a wave of concern among parents and educators across China.

Some clips illustrate how three standard ballpoint pens could be easily disassembled into components — barrels, springs, cartridges, and caps — then reassembled into compact firing devices.

While pen-gun modifications are not new, their recent resurgence at elementary and secondary schools has triggered alarm.　　

Parents and teachers describe a disturbing trend: Children, particularly boys, are using these improvised weapons to play "shooting games" during breaks.

In Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, a fifth-grade mother discovered her son had dismantled multiple ballpoint pens after learning the technique online, Legal Daily reported.

We’ve warned him repeatedly, but it’s hard to stop, she said.

In Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, a middle school student admitted that several boys in her class frequently fire toy guns during breaks.

Wang Yang (pseudonym), a sixth-grade math instructor in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, expressed her unease: "The spring mechanism launches the refills with enough force to hit targets at over 10 meters. It’s a safety hazard."

Experts warn that even seemingly harmless modifications pose risks. A tutorial demonstrating a pen gun shooting a 10-centimeter acrylic block shows the target shattering effortlessly.

Last year, a teacher in Huainan, Anhui Province, confiscated this kind of toy gun after a student accidentally shot a bamboo skewer through a classmate’s notebook.

The dangers extend beyond playground antics. A father surnamed Yin from Guangdong Province shared a harrowing account: His son suffered a corneal rupture when a classmate shot him in the eye with a ballpoint pen gun during lunch break. The boy required emergency corneal transplant surgery, temporarily dropping his vision to 0.2 (severely impaired). Though his sight later improved to 0.8, he faces lifelong risks of glaucoma.

Yin is one of the many parents interviewed who urged social media platforms to remove related videos.

"These clips glamorize danger," said Yin. "We’re not against creativity, but safety must come first."

Related authorities have yet to issue nationwide guidelines.

(By Mo Honge)