WUNRN
CHINA - LEFT-BEHIND CHILDREN OUT OF
TOUCH WITH PARENTS - REPORT
'Left-behind children' are children
whose parents have left their rural hometowns to seek jobs in the cities.
Editor: Liu Yunting – May 30, 2013
A report on the mental health of left-behind children from six provinces was released on May 28, 2013, showing that about 50 percent of the children know very little about their parents' lives away from home.
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In conjunction with the upcoming International
Children's Day, the 'Hand-in-hand—Let Left-behind Children Smile' activity is
held at the |
![In conjunction with the upcoming International Children's Day, the 'Hand-in-hand—Let Left-behind Children Smile' activity is held at the Chinese Museum of Women and Children in Beijing on May 28, 2013. [zxjj.com.cn]](061013_china_files/image001.jpg "In conjunction with the upcoming International Children's Day, the 'Hand-in-hand—Let Left-behind Children Smile' activity is held at the Chinese Museum of Women and Children in Beijing on May 28, 2013. [zxjj.com.cn]")
'Left-behind children' are children whose parents have left their rural
hometowns to seek jobs in the cities.
The report was released during the 'Hand-in-hand—Let Left-behind Children
Smile' activity held at the
The statistics are from a survey that polled more than 10,000 children aged
between 6 and 17 living in the
A total of 23.4 percent of the left-behind children said that one or both
parents left them when they were between 1 to 3 and 22.7 percent when they were
4 to 6.
Among those polled, 69.2 percent of left-behind children say that they only
communicate with their parents when they take the initiative to call them. Even
then, conversation topics are limited.
In addition, 21.6 percent said they are reluctant to live with their parents as
they have been estranged for too long. They also worry about problems they may
face living in an urban area.
According to Lu Qin, chief education expert of the China Children's Press
and Publication Group (CCPPG) and an expert from the China National Committee
for the Wellbeing of the Youth, society needs to pay more attention to ensuring
the emotional and psychological health of left-behind children, as they are a
vulnerable group who suffer from lack of guardianship.
Director of the China National Committee for the Wellbeing of the Youth Gu
Xiulian was also in attendance at the activity.
The Hand-in-hand Activity was jointly launched in 1990 by the Central Committee
of the Communist Youth League, Chinese Young Pioneers National Working
Committee and the CCPPG. This year, it is sponsored by the China Ningbo Yofoto
Commodity Company, which has promised to build 100 fully equipped classrooms
across the country.