Chinese police have detained two teachers in Zhejiang province after a photo was circulated online showing one of them lifting a pupil by his ears.
The picture of the young boy screaming in pain caused an outcry after it was posted to a social networking site, the state news agency Xinhua reports.
The teacher in question apparently told police she did it "for fun".
The BBC reports that a number of scandals involving violence against pupils in schools have recently flared up in China.
Another video also circulated on social networks this week showing a teacher repeatedly slapping a five-year-old girl round the face. The abuse was captured on the classroom's security camera.
Local media says the female teacher, from the Montessori kindergarten in north China's Shaanxi province, has also been detained by the authorities.
Education officials have said they will launch an investigation into the latest incident involving a child being held up by his ears at the Blue Peacock kindergarten in Wenling, Zheijang province.
According to Xinhua, the increased attention on violent incidents against schoolchildren prompted China's ministry of education to propose a national ban against corporal punishment in June.
