Li Changchun
After three murders in October where students targeted their teachers, a top CPC official called for more ideological and moral education of the nation’s youth. Xinhua reports:
“Particular care should be given to children and their growth as they are successors of the socialist cause,” Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said in a letter to a national conference on youth moral education that ended on Sunday.
Liu Yunshan, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, told the conference that more efforts should be made to create a sound social and cultural environment for the young.
“More healthy cultural products should be made to … cultivate values such as patriotism and civilized manners,” he said.
The three murders were of a college professor in Beijing, and two high school teachers from Shanxi and Zhejiang.
Previously, the Ministry of Education has called for more protection of teachers. China Daily reports:
“At the same time, it is necessary to improve moral education and psychological counseling in primary and high schools to enhance the mental well-being of students,” Wang [Dinghua] said.
Yan Wendong, a researcher at Henan Pingyu Teachers School, said mental health problems sometimes make young people taking extreme action.“Good family education is an important factor to ensure healthy growth of the young,” Yan said.
Beijingcalling on their blog questions if these murders reflect the need for more moral education or psychological counseling, but rather societal influences that resulted from the one-child policy and the educational pressures to perform well.
Read more on Chinese nationalism and patriotism that the state is calling for, as well as the angry youth (愤青) phenomenon on CDT.
