escape, but we prefer teachers of noble morality, who sacrifice themselves to save students.

Yang Yuze (Changjiang Daily): People can be cowards facing big disasters. But could the captain abandon a sinking ship without considering passengers on board? Could the pilot bail out of his aircraft while leaving passengers in danger? Human beings are vulnerable facing natural disasters. But if we can unite our efforts, we become stronger in the face of tragedy. This was proven to be true by the emergency relief efforts made by all Chinese.

We respect each citizen's rights. But human rights and social duties should be in balance. Every occupation requires professional ethics, and for teachers, part of their duties is to protect their students.

Kuang Shengyuan (hlj.rednet.cn): Slamming Fan Paopao is not aimed at forcing him to do heroic deeds. But as a teacher, he is primarily restrained by his professional ethics and social morality. He is the one who severely violated the moral code and failed to fulfill his obligations.

In whatever circumstances, we cannot understand why he fled alone and abandoned all his students who were in great danger.

Value of life

Wu Jie (www.xinhuanet.com): The Wenchuan earthquake is an unexpected disaster.

In the face of a collapsing building, fears of death inevitably emerge and it is a human nature to flee dangerous areas as soon as possible.

We must admit that people instinctively want to live a long life. We all admire those who sacrificed their lives to save others in the devastating quake. But I believe even those heroes would agree that survival is of prime importance in a crisis. In this sense, people should show tolerance toward disaster victims who had followed their natural instinct to survive, even if they failed to do something that is deemed more important by people in non-affected areas.

Hu Rui (www.china.org.cn): Traditional Confucianism has advocated "service before self" for thousands of years. Today, this value concept is still perceived vital for rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

During the 30 years since implementing the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, the education model has been reshaped to focus more on fostering individuality and training skills to survive. At least, every life deserves respect. Maybe it will be more effective to reduce the casualty rate in times of disaster by training people in self-protection skills.

Chen Fangfang (hlj.rednet.cn): In my view, the bottom line for morality is not to harm the interests of others. Fan Meizhong's escape is not malicious in nature, although it goes against traditional morality.