During an educational working conference held in Shanghai earlier this month, the headmaster of a highly rated middle school told participants about a particularly disturbing incident that happened at his school. A third year student dropped to his knees in his office and begged the headmaster to keep him back for two years, the Shanghai Evening Post reported on January 15.

The student explained that his parents were both graduates of famous universities, and many of his cousins and neighbors' children were already enrolled at top-notch universities. In true "keeping up with The Joneses" style, the boy's parents have set their sights on a "bright future" for him, and have decided that he is to study at either the prestigious Fudan University or Jiao Tong University.

However, the boy scored poorly in his first and second year examinations. With the national university entrance examinations approaching, the desperate boy resorted to making the unusual plea to his headmaster.

"The enormous parental pressure on children is a major cause of the growing incidence of psychological problems among teenagers today. The situation is increasingly grave across all middle schools in the city," said a teacher surnamed Jiang from the Primary and Middle School Students' Psychological Association of Shanghai.

Jiang explained that traditionally, Chinese parents take it upon themselves to cater to every single need of their children, and often have extremely high expectations of them as a result. Research over the years has shown that parents tend to satisfy all material needs of their children, but fail to pay heed to their psychological and emotional demands. Because academic excellence is highly revered in this country, if children do not meet their parents' high expectations, it is not uncommon for the children to be criticized, derided or even physically abused.

In March 2006, Zou Ruhao, a psychologist from a school psychological educational research institute in Shanghai's Hongkou District, conducted a survey of 808 students. Only 80 of the students surveyed said "they have no worries"; 461 said they "have problems in studies", "have less sleep time", "have no time to play", "have no personal space", and are "unhappy".

Zou explained that adults do not fully understand the worries of a child. "Actually, during the growing-up period, many children can solve lots of problems by themselves."

Headmaster Xie of the Secondary School Affiliated to Fudan University, said that his school now provides child psychology sessions for parents. "Each year before a new semester or vacation period starts, the school will give guidance to parents by taking into considerations their views and feelings," Xie said.

In addition, each year before taking their military training, students are given psychology lectures on topics including adapting to new study environments and task management.

When final examination results are released, the school usually gives some advice and guidance to those parents who might have to deal with poor results from their children. "Psychology experts are invited to give the lectures," Xie said.

Xie added that the school arranges for experts to visit the parents of children diagnosed with psychological problems.

In this picture a teenager from Shanghai, accompanied by his mother, makes his way into the examination hall for the national university entrance exam on June 7, 2006. Statistics from China's Ministry of Education show that the number of students registering for this particular examination in 2006 exceeds 9.5 million. This is an all time record.

According to a January 6 report on Eastday.com, the number of Shanghai students who have registered for the national university entrance examinations this year currently stands at about 140,000, a slight drop from last year's figure of 142,900. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Municipal Educational Committee announced on December 30, 2006 that the number of junior secondary school students in the city should reach about 110,000 in 2007, also several thousand fewer than in 2006, with university enrolment rates exceeding 98 percent.

According to the municipal education plan, results of students' comprehensive quality appraisal will be taken into consideration in addition to examination results for entry to university.

(China.org.cn by Li Jingrong, January 23, 2007)