Parents in China with young children who display “very bad behavior” or commit crimes could face punishment under proposed new law.
China’s parliament is expected this week to consider a draft of the Family Education Promotion Law, which, if passed, would punish parents by ordering them to partake in family education guidance programs if prosecutors identify children under their care as criminal or otherwise problematic, Reuters reported Monday.
In the draft of the family education promotion law, guardians will be reprimanded and ordered to go through family education guidance programs if prosecutors find very bad or criminal behavior in children under their care.
“There are many reasons for adolescents to misbehave, and the lack of or inappropriate family education is the major cause,” said Zang Tiewei, spokesman of the Legislative Affairs Commission under the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s rubber-stamp parliament.
The draft family education promotion law, which will be reviewed at the NPC Standing Committee session this week, also urges parents to arrange time for their children to rest, play, and exercise. They’re also expected to instill children with a sense to “respect the elderly and care for the young,”
This comes after Beijing this year, has limited underaged addiction to online gaming and blacklisting “misbehaving celebrities.
In recent months, the Education Ministry has limited gaming hours for minors, allowing them to play online games for one hour on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday only.
It has also cut back on homework and banned after-school tutoring for major subjects during the weekend and holidays, concerned about the heavy academic burden on overwhelmed children.
At the same time, China is urging young Chinese men to be less “feminine” and more “manly”.
In its “Proposal to Prevent the Feminization of Male Adolescents” issued in December, the Education Ministry urged schools to promote on-campus sports such as football.
