A stone lion on a bridge in Tianjin is covered with a mask in the heavy smog that has hit much of the country's northern regions. Tong Yu / For China Daily

TWO STUDENTS in the Middle School Affiliated to Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, complained to the local authority that the school did not obey the regulation to stop classes when there was a red alert for smog. The two students were later called to talks with school staff, one of them missing a day's class. The Paper.cn commented on Wednesday:

The two high school students were given a lesson in how cruel life can be. The injustice is even worse than the smog.

The students encountered animosity from their classmates and parents who claimed they destroyed the study environment, as well as their teachers and the local officials who denied they were punishing the two students for blowing the whistle. To the two fighters for justice, the whole world probably seems to have turned its back on them.

It is the local education authority that set up the regulation of no classes on smoggy days. The students became the victims of the school's violation of the regulation. The education authority even set up a hot line for complaints, and the students having full trust in the sincerity of the local authority dialed the number and made their complaints.

The local education authority tried to deny that it was responsible for informing the school of the pupils' action, claiming it might be a training organization.

Even though the case has caused a stir, the relevant education officials and the staff of the school were only censured.

What should be of even greater concern though is what will be the fate of the two students who told the truth during their last semester in high school. They became the victims despite telling the truth.