Education blog

Eleven kindergarten kids were hospitalized on Sunday after they ate sedatives and another pill they thought were candy given to them by a fellow student at a township school in Sichuan Province.

Five kids who had severe symptoms were recovering Tuesday afternoon.

A 5-year-old kid named Longlong at Beilei Kindergarten in Tangchang township in Chengdu, took reserpine and subili from his home and shared them with 10 classmates, Tianfu Morning Post reported Tuesday.

Reserpine is a sedative used chiefly to lower blood pressure and slow heart rate while subili is an anti-psychotic drug that could harm the liver, the kidney and the brain.

The students started vomiting and suffered from bellyaches after taking the drugs. Their teachers called 120, the emergency hotline, and the kids were taken to hospital.

The hospital cleaned their stomach, provided oxygen and conducted transfusions for the 11 kids. Five boys with severe symptoms were sent to Sichuan Provincial Hospital in Chengdu, and the rest were sent to Chengdu No 3 Hospital.

Most of them are 5 years old and several were three years old.

“I only ate one, Longlong took the treat,” one of the affected kids, Xiaozhen, said.

“We won’t blame Longlong, but his parents should take responsibilities. The kid is so young, how could they place the medicine so carelessly,” said her mother.

The parent of another kid said Longlong’s parents, raising cows in town, did not show up later.

Local police and education authorities are investigating the case.

The private kindergarten, which has 48 kids, was closed; and the kids were sent back home for two days’ observation and may be transferred to another kindergarten.