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Published 20:04 16 Apr 2013 BST


If you thought your commute to school was bad when you were younger, think again. Children living in South China have to climb a cliff using a rickety wooden ladder in order to reach their school building.
Digital Spy reports that children living in Zhangjiawan Village in Long Tianping County, have to scale a 60m tall cliff every single day in order to make it to their school. Apparently there is an alternative route to the school, but this nerve-inducing way is a whopping three hours shorter.
We’ll admit that our hearts literally leapt into our mouths when we stumbled across these pictures of young children making their way up the ladders. Understandably the images have sparked an outcry after they appeared online and in various newspapers around the world.
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The children climb the ladders every single day
The local authorities in Zhangjiawan Village have responded to the publication of the pictures by telling worried members of the public that they will look into introducing concrete steps that the children can use instead.
According to reports the ladders were built by nearby residents and they usually last for “a few years” before they need to be replaced.
We don’t know about you but we’re suddenly grateful that the most we had to deal with on our way to school was a steep hill and a heavy schoolbag...