When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Migrant Lives

Children Left Behind: Migration, Education And Crime In China

New data shows high crime rates among children of the millions of rural migrants who moved to Chinese cities - both those brought along with their parents, and the 'left-behind' children.

Just for laughs?
Just for laughs?
Liu Jinsong

BEIJING — The Beijing Higher Court has just released its annual work report for 2013 with regard to court cases involving minors. One of the most eye-catching statistics is that migrant workers' offspring are responsible for an alarmingly high proportion (65.3%) of juvenile delinquency. At the same time another detail, very often overlooked, shows that the same minors are also the ones most likely to have their rights violated and to be the victims of sexual abuse.

The report states that there is very often a problematic family behind each of these “problematic youngsters.” We know, for example, that migrant workers have to strive to survive in the city and have little time to attend to their children. They miss out on providing both the protection and guidance that their offspring need.

Many are these children wind up either staying at home alone or commuting between home and school by themselves where they can become easy targets for criminals. Moreover, the fact that migrant workers rarely attend to their children means they do not get the warmth from home and are more prone to behavior such as skipping classes, fighting, and dropping out of school.

Once lured by criminals, they are mostly likely to become perpetrators themselves.

We understand that inadequate family education and protection are the key reasons why non-Beijing household children are much more vulnerable to becoming criminals. A good family educational environment and atmosphere is a necessary prerequisite for the healthy growth of children.

When we point fingers at the migrant workers’ family education we should also reflect on China’s lack of quality education and social relief.

As the report revealed, migrant workers mostly belong to the vulnerable group of society who bow to realities just in order to be able to feed themselves. Though most of them don’t spend enough energy for their children’s upbringing, the fact that they at least bring their children to the cities is already a hard choice.

Children left behind

The truth is that most migrant workers are forced to leave their children behind in the rural areas — there are as many as 60 million of these children, because of China’s discriminatory education system and obsolete social security system.

Just like their migrant peers in the cities, the “left-behind” children who are deprived of parental love and care are also prone to get into trouble much more easily. According to data, 57.14% of China’s left-behind children suffer from psychological problems while also accounting for about 70% of China’s overall juvenile delinquency.

Education is a nation's system engineering. It requires the participation of families, schools and the broader society. The negative impact resulting from any missing link is to be assumed together by the entire society.

Obviously migrant children miss out on getting sufficient family care, but even more so from the schools and society. Whether they follow their parents into the cities or stay in the countryside they have mostly drifted away from mainstream society.

If we take Beijing as an example, recently the capital's authorities have failed to improve school admission conditions for migrant workers’ offspring, and in some cases have actually made it even more exclusive. Even if they manage to get into the so-called "migrant workers’ children schools," a parallel non-governmental-run system, they are still a marginalized group outside of society’s central framework.

By contrast, the United States might offer a good measure worthy of study. In February, America launched an assistance program aiming to empower young minority men. Named "My Brother’s Keeper," the initiative will receive, over the next five years, $200 million of funding to improve the conditions of the disadvantaged through education and employment, thereby also reducing juvenile crime rates.

Though there exists certain relief programs to vulnerable groups in China, the investment efforts fall far short. Moreover, the government fails to take children’s education issues into account as a priority when formulating broader national policies.

Children represent a society’s future. The more we invest on our education, the more harmony we’ll create for the future of our nation.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Economy

Lex Tusk? How Poland’s Controversial "Russian Influence" Law Will Subvert Democracy

The new “lex Tusk” includes language about companies and their management. But is this likely to be a fair investigation into breaking sanctions on Russia, or a political witch-hunt in the business sphere?

Photo of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Piotr Miaczynski, Leszek Kostrzewski

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland’s new Commission for investigating Russian influence, which President Andrzej Duda signed into law on Monday, will be able to summon representatives of any company for inquiry. It has sparked a major controversy in Polish politics, as political opponents of the government warn that the Commission has been given near absolute power to investigate and punish any citizen, business or organization.

And opposition politicians are expected to be high on the list of would-be suspects, starting with Donald Tusk, who is challenging the ruling PiS government to return to the presidency next fall. For that reason, it has been sardonically dubbed: Lex Tusk.

University of Warsaw law professor Michal Romanowski notes that the interests of any firm can be considered favorable to Russia. “These are instruments which the likes of Putin and Orban would not be ashamed of," Romanowski said.

The law on the Commission for examining Russian influences has "atomic" prerogatives sewn into it. Nine members of the Commission with the rank of secretary of state will be able to summon virtually anyone, with the powers of severe punishment.

Under the new law, these Commissioners will become arbiters of nearly absolute power, and will be able to use the resources of nearly any organ of the state, including the secret services, in order to demand access to every available document. They will be able to prosecute people for acts which were not prohibited at the time they were committed.

Their prerogatives are broader than that of the President or the Prime Minister, wider than those of any court. And there is virtually no oversight over their actions.

Nobody can feel safe. This includes companies, their management, lawyers, journalists, and trade unionists.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest