Focus on children

2012-05-29 17:26

By (chinadaily.com.cn)

Editor's note

Focus on children

It goes without saying that children are the hope of any society. Their safety is always of great concern with many subjected to suffering preventable injuries if only parents paid more attention.

The issues and concerns surrounding education are also abundant, not least tiger mom, wolf and eagle dad as well as some improper teaching ways which cause discrimination, humiliation and also harm a child's dignity.

As Children's Day takes its place in the calendar of world events, we focus on the stories surrounding society's most treasured to ensure their healthy growth both physically and psychologically.

Enjoy our special on Children's Day and we wish all children a very happy childhood.

Kids in peril

'Masked boy' returns to school

Fire claimed four of 6-year-old Wang Gengxiang's fingers and severely disfigured his face. He has to wear a full surgical mask as protection.

2 kids dead in kindergarten fire

Two children died and three others were injured after fire engulfed a kindergarten early Sunday morning in Central Hunan province, local authorities said Monday. [More]

Toddler caught after 10-story fall

A 2-year-old girl fell from the 10th floor of a building before she was saved by a young mother in Hangzhou of Zhejiang province on July 2, 2011.

Famous parenting

TIGER MOTHER

Amy Chua, a Chinese-American mother and Yale law professor, advocated a strict parenting style.

WOLF FATHER

Xiao Baiyou, the self-titled "Wolf Father", imposes strict restrictions on his four children and will beat them if they fail to meet his standards.

EAGLE DAD

He Liesheng, a 44-year-old father, recorded a video of his 4-year-old son running almost naked in a -13 C blizzard during the Spring Festival holiday in New York.

Five cousins drown in village tragedy

Wang Jiushou, 72, and his wife break down as they face the coffins of their five dead grandchildren who drowned after going for a wash in a village pond in East China's Jiangxi province. [More]

Drowning first killer of toddlers

in parts of Asia

A new research report finds that one in every four children across parts of Asia dies from drowning, more than the number of kids who die from measles, polio, whooping cough, tetanus, diphtheria and tuberculosis combined. [More]

Man dives from car to save daughter

A man leaps from his moving car to save his two-year-old daughter who had fallen from the vehicle in a breathtaking moment at an intersection in Wenzhou on May 9, 2012.

Ensuring child safety

Children are often allowed to sit in the front seat because they would then be within easy reach for parents who are behind the steering wheel.

Even if the child is wearing a seatbelt or secured in a child restraint, sitting in the front seat has proven to be unsafe, no matter how short the drive. [More]

Controversial teaching

Girl locked in cage with wolves by dad

Public urges happier childhoods

The results of a recent poll show that the majority of respondents feel that children today are not as happy as those of previous generations, and many agree that society should be held responsible.

A total of 53.2 percent of the 11,754 respondents said they think children today are not as happy as children in previous generations. And 11.3 percent said they themselves did not have happy childhoods, but the situation is worse for children today. [More]

A school decided to make children whose schoolwork and general behavior were not yet good enough to wear green scarves instead of the red scarf of the Chinese Young Pioneers.

Dad forces son to run naked in snow

Better early education urged

"It is not a good idea to give such a clear definition of whether you are a 'good' student or not at such an early age," said Shen Peng, honorary chairman of China Calligraphers Association.

"The title of 'three-good' student has become such an important annual award for kids that many children are trying with all their might to get selected, even including bribing their teachers." [More]

Two rows of students, considered naughty or not performing well academically, sit an exam outside a classroom at a middle school in Jinxian county, East China's Jiangxi province, Nov 8, 2011.

Education carries weight of expectations

I would like to suggest that we examine the real complex underlying reasons for why we want our children to succeed.

If we can own up to our own fears and anxieties about our performance as parents and disengage them from how we go about loving our children and helping them to get the best education possible, perhaps we can then finally be able to extract the best of both East and West to ensure their future long term happiness. [More]

Flaws in our education

Children in China have no say in what they learn. They normally learn by rote and are forced to study the subjects that help them in examinations for a school of a higher grade, especially the college entrance exams.

Studies conducted by the China Youth and Children Research Center show that more than half of Chinese secondary school students study overtime and they don't get enough sleep. [More]