Recently, a website for middle school students in Foshan, in
south China's Guangdong Province, opened two threads in its
online forum for young people to post their complaints to release
pressure. However, the posts so far have been unanimous in their
use of curse words, as virulent demands are even made of people
using their real names, Guangzhou Daily reports.
The website that
opened the threads.
The two threads, begun in May and July, now have about 50
replies each. Their comments range from complaints about school,
classmates and parents to football teams or even food the posters
don't like. And every critical remark makes use of cursing and name
calling.
Reading the posts, many parents have been shocked. Ms. Cheng,
the mother of a student in the eighth grade, is against the idea of
venting by cursing. "Young people should learn to appreciate what
they have instead of complaining about any little thing that
disappoints them," she said. "If my child looks like he's stressed
out, I'll go and talk to him before he resorts to such a public way
of venting, like this." Ms. Cheng also noted that the students were
not the only ones to blame, as she said parents should try to think
in their children's shoes and check how they are running their
families from time to time.
Huizai, a high school student who is busy preparing for the
college entrance exam, sympathizes with the posters. He said, "I
feel enormous pressure in my studies, and I can't talk about it
with my parents because they are always busy working. I am old
enough to have my own thoughts, and I need some place to express
them." And interviews with other young people show that quite a few
agree with him.
But Xiaoling, an eighth-grade girl, said she was disgusted by
the posts. "They are so dark and made me even more depressed," she
said. "I would rather release my pressure by working out."
Liang Xiao, a lawyer from Guangdong Gujinlai Law Office, remarks
that it is not against the law to curse on the Internet as long as
one's statements don't involve anybody's real name. However, using
someone's real name to insult them with offensive statements
crosses the line.
A teacher surnamed Liu, the psychology instructor from the No. 3
Middle School in Foshan, said that anonymously expressing their
discontent on the Internet may do some good for students with
psychological obstacles to communicating in real life. But for
those who are prone to ruthlessness, it may set loose their bad
tempers. "These teenagers' flippancy, cynicism and extremism
reflected in these posts does give us something to think about,"
Liu said. Liu also recommended that students who have mental
problems talk to their psychology instructors at school, so they
can find healthier and more appropriate ways to relax.
(CRI October 25, 2006)
