Taiwan actor Kai Ko, who was detained for two weeks in August 2014 on drug-use charges, is among the "tainted talents". Photo provided to China Daily
Beijing police have detained 16 students from the Beijing Midi School of Music on suspicion of drug use, after a raid on a dormitory on Tuesday, following a tipoff that marijuana was being used at the school. The school published a letter on Thursday in which it apologized for failing to properly manage students. Beijing Youth Daily urges more efforts to clean up showbiz.
Neither some ill-behaved rock stars' demonstrative effects nor the so-called drug-inspired artistic creation nullifies the misdeeds of the 16 music students. Illegal as it is, taking drugs may not be held criminally accountable unless it is done in a group on campus. In that case, the punishments, according to the Chinese criminal law, can be three years in prison and criminal detention.
Undoubtedly, the Beijing Midi School of Music is responsible for its students' lawbreaking activity, yet what is even more unacceptable is that the headmaster only advocated criticizing and educating the young drug users rather than punishing them. He should have sent a clear message to the public that the university had "zero-tolerance" to drug use and the students deserved to be punished, and he should have announced that the school would embark on introducing stricter rules and regulations to nip such misconduct in the bud.
However, the drug scandal is likely to cause more damage to the students involved than the school. It is a shame that the 16 teenagers fell prey to drugs at such a young age, because there is no necessary correlation between making music and taking drugs. The "pursuit of inspiration" is nothing but an excuse.
But it is not just the school's responsibility to keep students away from drugs. Relevant government departments are also obliged to jointly enhance the management and education of art school students, and to purify the entertainment industry, in which a variety of false values have the potential to lead the young wannabes astray.
