Millions of young have moral flaws
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-07-26 17:18

Millions of Chinese children suffer behavior problems, according to a national survey.

The survey showed about 20 percent of middle and primary school children suffer problems ranging from unruliness to excessive drinking, teenage pregnancy and suicide.

The moral problems of China's 367 million under 18s, including growing juvenile crime, have become a focal point for Chinese leaders.

Figures from the Supreme People's Procuratorate show minors made up 9.1 percent of all suspects arrested last year.

"Most young offenders are involved in thefts, robberies, kidnapping, blackmail and drug addiction and trafficking - many cases involve violence and some even involve rape and murder," said Bai Jingfu, vice minister of public security.

Nearly 70,000 minors were arrested last year, up 12.7 percent year-on-year.

The country's education system and social environment have been blamed as two of the major factors.

As grades are often a crucial yardstick at Chinese schools, those with poor grades tend to feel they are inferior and isolated.

Guan ying, a researcher with the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences who was involved in a national study tracking about 2,000 juvenile delinquents, said poor grades and other unpleasant school experiences are often the starting point for delinquency.

She said 74.2 percent of delinquents had quit primary or junior high school before they became involved in crime.

Nearly 93 percent of juvenile delinquents in cities played truant when they were at school.

Easy access to adult-only public entertainment venues in residential areas, including ballrooms and karaoke bars and gaming rooms, has been blamed as a major social factor for juvenile delinquency.

Operators of those facilities tend to ignore laws and regulations that bar minors from karaoke bars, cyber cafes and violent or obscene videos and publications.

Guan jie, vice-headmaster of the prestige No. 11 Middle School in Beijing, said the owner of a shop near the school sells tobacco to students.

A sex shop nearby has items that can be seen from the street.

Guan said vendors selling pirated pornographic video disks often appear at the entrance to his school of 5,000 students despite the school's appeal to law enforcement departments to crack down on those vendors.

Schools, families and the whole society should join hands in educating minors, Guan said.

In march this year, the Chinese Government unveiled a package of proposals on raising the ideological and moral standards of young people, including more publicity, educational reform and investment in projects for young people.

China will launch publicity campaigns to teach primary and middle school students to value life, say no to drugs, advocate sciences and civilization, and oppose superstition.

It promises efforts to correct and help minors with a poor record of conduct, and to reform curricula, textbooks and teaching methods to ease the academic burden of primary and middle school children, while stepping up efforts to improve ideological and moral construction.

The government has built 130 centers for homeless children nationwide, providing them with basic necessities, medical services and education.

From this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will join lawmakers to draft a special law to protect the country's 150,000 homeless children - 105,000 boys and 45,000 girls, mostly between 10 and 15.

Most of these children have had little schooling and are making a living as beggars or junkmen, said Li Liguo, vice minister of civil affairs.

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