Beijing protects minors through legislation ( 2003-12-06 09:12) (People's Daily)
The Chinese capital Friday
passed a newly revamped regulation which involves special measures to better
protect the rights and interests of the minors.
According to the Regulation on Protection of Minors, the Beijing municipal
government and concerned departments should take measures to guarantee the
rights of migrant children to get compulsory education in Beijing as required by
law.
"This is the first time that Beijing has protected migrant children's
educational rights through legislation," said Qi Zhiguo, vice director of the
Beijing Minors Protection Committee, who participated in the legislation.
Statistics from the China Children's Center show that 9.3 percent of the
migrant children in China are dropouts and 46.9 percent of six-year-old children
have not been admitted to elementary schools.
Scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2004, the regulation stipulates that
Beijing should set up emergency aid institutions to house and support minors
suffering abuses or other family problems.
Earlier this year in June, a three-year-old girl, Li Siyi, from Chengdu,
southwest China's Sichuan Province, starved to death unknowingly at home when
her mother was away in forced abstinence from drugs.
"It reveals the lack of proper institutions to take care of the special group
of children," said Qi, adding that this tragedy would not happen again with the
emergency aid institutions.
The regulation also shows special care for street children in saying that
juvenile vagrants should be aided separately from adult vagrants. China passed
regulations on aiding and managing vagrants and beggars, including minors, in
urban areas on June 18, 2003.
"However, minors have their own needs different from adults and should be
treated separately in shelters offered by the government, " said Qi.
According to the new regulation, the shelters should provide psychological
guidance, short-term education and bad behavior correcting courses to vagrant
minors under protection.
To better protect minors' safety on the Internet, the regulation forbids
Internet cafes to receive young people under the age of 18 and urges
institutions with Internet services to keep minors away from information
detrimental to their growth.
The regulation also suggested local primary and middle schools offer
psychological consultations with professional psychological teachers.
A survey by the China Association of Psychology in 22 provinces and
municipalities showed that about 13 percent of juveniles surveyed showed obvious
mental or behavioral problems. Meanwhile, about 16 percent of juveniles surveyed
have symptoms of anxiety and depression.
"It is the third time the Beijing People's Congress amended the Regulation on
Protection of Minors in the past 14 years, a frequency topping the country's
list," said Wu Senzhong, a senior official with the Beijing Municipal People's
Congress. More than half of the old articles were revamped and some special
articles added to follow the society's pace, said Wu.
