Under a nationwide plan, mature volunteers are being sought to
participate in the education of children and help remedy bad habits
among youth.
The plan calls for volunteer monitors to check whether people
under the age of 18 are entering banned places such as Internet
caf
és.
Despite rules that prohibit minors from entering Internet
caf
és, junior and senior high school students are often the main
customers.
Under the newly launched “Love Helps Growing-up” program, local
senior citizens can take part in the war between parents and
Internet caf
és for children.
The supervisors will have special certificates and work in
groups. Authorities are granting them the right to conduct spot
checks at any time. If minors are found on the premises, the
businesses will be penalized.
According to Zhang Xuecheng, an official with the Central
Committee of the Communist Youth League of China -- the organizer
of the program -- five cities will send out monitors on a trial
basis beginning Saturday.
The pilot cities are Tianjin,
Harbin in Heilongjiang
Province, Hangzhou in Zhejiang
Province, Chengdu in Sichuan
Province and Yinchuan in the Ningxia
Hui Autonomous Region.
On October 22 the program will expand into 100 cities. Over a
period of three to five years, it will be promoted in all cities
throughout the country.
(China Daily September 27, 2004)