I read that over 3,500 schools were damaged. With an average of ?? maybe 800 per school, that could be over 250,000 families who were directly affected by this quake, plus extended families.
Its the kind of social upheaval that even China's society could have a problem withstanding.
Parents will put up with almost anything, but to have so many children torn away from life or severely injured could be dangerous to the leadership.
Watch for scapegoats galore.
I’m not sure how you are doing your math. 3500 schools with an average of 800 students per school isn’t 250,000 it is 2.8 million. In any case, just because 3500 schools were damaged doesn’t mean they all came crashing down with 800 kids in them each. The confirmed death toll is already over 20,000 with the missing and still buried possibly leading up to 50,000. About 20% of China’s population is aged 1-14% so let us assume a minimum of 10,000 children dead and an arbitrary maximum of 20,000.
The parents will do as parents have always done when they lose children. Cope by having more.