> Mao made use of the group as propaganda and to accomplish goals such as seizing power and destroying symbols of China's pre-communist past ("Four Olds"), including ancient artifacts and gravesites of notable Chinese figures. Moreover, the government was very permissive of the Red Guards, and even allowed the Red Guards to inflict bodily harm on people viewed as dissidents.
Were these the people forcing teachers into public displays of apology called struggle sessions? I remember reading about how physically violent those events were. The foundations of China’s government is the violence and tens of millions of deaths as a result of Mao.