Student doing homework on Metro triggers heated debate

A video of a young boy using a portable table to do homework on the Metro went viral recently, leading to heated debate around the subject of kids and homework.

The clip, shot on Shanghai's Metro Line 8 on November 6 by a fellow passenger, led many netizens to question whether or not kids have too much homework and not enough leisure time these days.

Some netizens said that childhood today is "killed" by homework, while others complained about the boy's table taking up too much space on the train.

The level of comments online led the boy's mother to come forward, defending her parenting and her son's apparent study schedule. 

She called the whole thing a big misunderstanding.

The boy and his mother were taking the table home for a friend, she said, and it was his idea to use it to do a spot of homework during the journey.

“We certainly don’t do this everyday," his mother, surnamed Zhang, told eastday.com. "And it wasn't very crowded on the Metro at the time.” 

Among the barrage of public comments, Metro operators said it was not advisable to use portable furniture on the subway like that, because it might cause other passengers to trip.

The boy's mother agreed, and said she would pay more attention to public space in the future.