Psychological Health of the Youth Cause for Concern

关注青少年的心理健康

内容 提要 2002年2月，清华大学学生刘海洋伤熊事件引发了一场关于青少年心理 健康的大讨论。中国孩子到底怎么啦？中国教育哪里出了问题？本文讨

论了中国教育的三大误区，揭示了心理教育的重要性，并呼吁全社会都来关注青少年的 心理健康，对他们伸出援助之手。

ON February 23, 2002 a student named Liu Haiyang from Tsinghua University threw vitriol over the black bears on Bear Hill in Beijing Zoo, causing one bear to suffer serious and extensive burns, and completely blinding another. Liu was caught on the spot. His explanation was that he was testing the bears' sensitivity to the acid.

Millions of TV viewers were incensed by the incident, particularly by Liu's cold, indifferent demeanor on being interviewed. All condemned his callous behavior. Sociologists, educators, psychologists and criminologists later expressed their opinions and made comments on the incident. Instances of juvenile delinquency, such as campus violence, rape, truancy, and running away from home, have previously occurred, but nothing has aroused such widespread controversy as Liu's cold sadism, that is so removed from the conduct generally associated with a student from China's most prestigious university.

There was, however, more to come, and further items of bad news occurred, one after another. On being advised by his school that he should leave after failing several exams, a Beijing university student decided to commit suicide, but first killed his father and grandmother so as to spare their grief on his death. A 13-year-old Sichuan Province girl ran away from home recently in pursuit of her favorite movie star, and has not been seen since. People are beginning to ask: what is the matter with our children, and where is Chinese education going wrong?

Chinese people traditionally revere education. The ancient Chinese so evaluated the function of education: \"......Only when a person is well cultivated can his family be regulated; only when families are regulated can the country be rightly governed; and only when the country is rightly governed will there be peace under Heaven.\" A popular ancient Chinese expression describes educated people as the country's \"supporting pillars.\"

Educational Misconceptions

There are, however, two sides to every coin. As the indispensable role education plays in promoting social progress and nourishing the human mind and spirit is generally recognized, so also is its immediate utility, which has inevitably brought problems.

Misconception One: Utilitarianism

Current education places less emphasis on instruction in ethics, self-cultivation, and social obligations and duties than does the traditional educational approach. This is particularly the case now, as China is in the throes of economic transition, and the moral standards, sense of values and social responsibility so firmly adhered to in the past appear to be disintegrating. Some people have rapidly increased their wealth, while others have been laid off, and remain unemployed. This

social situation has thrust utilitarianism upon the family, and on scholastic and social education, and the result in some cases is a distortion of human nature.

Misconception Two: Examination Success

Like many countries, China selects personnel on the basis of examination results. There is no doubt that examinations play a dominant role in propelling social progress. The university entrance examination system in China encourages students to study hard and acquire knowledge for the benefit of society, but China's huge population and underdeveloped economy preclude existing educational institutions from meeting the needs of all college applicants. In order to enter a school of higher learning, therefore, children are obliged to study very hard from a young age, and there is too much of a bias within Chinese education toward examination success.

Yet children who enter a college are not necessarily all successful. Sociologists and educators have studied many \"success\" stories and discovered that most such students feel a sense of frustration and self-denial. This is because for so many years \"success\" has been the sole indicator of their value, and has distorted and debilitated their capacity to assess their other inherent qualities. Moreover, an entirely bookish education has deprived them of the chance to acquire psychological self-esteem, or to understand and apply practical social skills. Such students function adequately under smooth, uneventful circumstances, but once they encounter frustration or adversity, may react with excessive \"countermeasures.\"

Misconception Three: Division of Science and Liberal Arts

For several decades the college entrance examinations have been broadly divided into science and liberal arts majors. To succeed within such an examination system, therefore, students concentrate their energies on one of the two. Liberal arts students are consequently limited in their knowledge and grasp of science, and the reverse is true of science students and humanities. Such a system deprives students of access to comprehensive knowledge.

Lack of Psychological Guidance

Of all the misconceptions, errors and gaps that current education has been found to contain, it is generally agreed that psychological education is now the most imperative need of Chinese children.

It is reported that China currently has 30 million young people with psychological problems. Primary and middle school students facing psychological challenges account for between 21.6 and 32 percent of the total, and the figure for university students stands at between 16 and 25.4 percent. Both are on the increase.

No Chinese educational institution has yet established a psychological health system, and psychological education within primary and middle schools remains fundamentally nonexistent. Psychologists and analysts are also thin on the ground. In most cases, therefore, children are left to weather their own way through the course of their psychological development.

Lending a Helping Hand

After a re-examination of the concept of psychological, environmental and humane education, Yuan Guiren, vice minister of education, pointed out that the family, school and society at large should function as one body in order to educate children into healthy well-rounded individuals. To this end, many educators and specialists have offered their ideas. Experts on family education have recently put forth the concept of \"self-reliance,\" which has been widely accepted. The

essence of this idea is that children should learn to focus on themselves -- on their own health, growth and development. In order to care for their own wellbeing, they should not only develop healthy living habits and take an active part in physical activities, but also learn to understand, accept, control and adapt themselves to society and to communicate with others. In the process of teaching their children how to take care of themselves, parents are guiding them towards being responsible for their own lives.

In any event, it is encouraging to see that Chinese education is taking measures, by studying proven overseas educational experience, to rectify its misconceptions.

(China Today June 2002)

New Words and Expressions

incense vt. 激怒

demeanor n. 行为；风度 callous a. 无情的；冷淡的

unanimously ad. 全体一致的；无异议的 criminologist n. 犯罪学者；刑事学家 juvenile delinquency 少年犯罪 truancy n. 逃学；旷课

sadism n. 虐待狂；病态的残忍 revere v. 尊敬；敬畏；崇敬 ethics n. 伦理道德规范 throes n. 剧痛；阵痛

disintegrating v. （使）分解；（使）碎裂） distortion n. 扭曲；变形

frustration n. 挫败；挫折；受挫 self-denial n. 自我否定

debilitate vt. 使衰弱；使虚弱

weather vt. 使受风吹雨打；经受住 humane education 仁慈教育 well-rounded a. 全面发展的

well-being n. 康乐；安宁； 福利 rectify vt. 矫正；调整