Authorities said yesterday they would investigate a private training center after receiving testimony and videos showing that children were made to swallow fire and step on glass to build up their courage.
Given videos and testimony from parents of the Mai-teh International Intelligence Research Institute, the Tainan City Government said in a statement it would probe the training center for possible violations of laws governing minors.
The two-year-old center, licenced as a consultancy, had enrolled more than 100 people of various ages to build up their courage via what parents said amounted to corporal punishment, a city government official said.
A Tainan City councilor and several parents brought the case to local media, prompting the probe.
“My child was forced to split wood with his bare hands and wanted to die,” one mother said in a TV report.
Students paid NT$300,000 for six months of the after-school courses, local media reported.
“Because the company had always stressed that it was a confidence training school and that only with a strong heart could children see achievements, it had to do things to build up courage,” the city government statement said.
“If there were violations of rules covering minors, we will handle the case according to law,” it said.
The training center was closed yesterday and telephones went unanswered, complicating the probe, the city said.
Extreme confidence-building courses are generally reserved for military units, such as the US Marine Corps, and involve challenging exercises designed to overcome fear of accidents.
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