More than 60 percent of children in China have been beaten by
their parents, according to a survey released yesterday by the
Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences at the International Forum for
Children.
More than 200 experts from 10 countries and regions participated
in an ongoing three-day forum co-organized by the Shanghai Women's
Federation and the academy, which opened on November 24. Its theme
is children's security and social responsibility.
Yang Xiong, director of the Institute of Youth and Juvenile
Studies under the academy, said family violence is the worst kind
of harm children can experience.
"Serious violence may cause disability or even death. When
children are beaten they have a strong will to resist and some will
even seek revenge in the way of self-destruction," Yang said.
About 5,800 students in 10 cities, including Shanghai, answered
the survey's questions. About 15 percent of respondents said they
had been hit by teachers and 38.6 percent had been teased by
students in higher grades.
According to the survey, 10.4 percent of sampled children below
12 slept less than eight hours a day. The proportion keeps
increasing with the age going up. Among 15-year-old children, the
proportion reached 44.6 percent.
"Parents and educators need to be aware of these things because
lack of sleep can stunt a child's growth," Yang said.
Parents also need to be more aware of their behavior around
their children. Nearly 10 percent of the questioned children said
they worried most that their parents didn't care about them. About
35 percent said they were most afraid to see parents argue or
fight.
(Shanghai Daily November 26, 2005)