A recent survey shows Chinese high school students are more willing to confide in Internet friends than their own fathers.

The survey, released by the China Youth and Children Research Center (CYCRC) on Monday, shows that 19.4 percent of high school students, aged 15 to 18, choose to talk online with friends about their worries. Only 15.8 percent of those surveyed choose to talk with their fathers.

However, their peers in Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States do just the opposite, according to the survey which was co-conducted by the CYCRC, the Japan Youth Research Institute, the Republic of Korea's National Youth Policy Institute and America's Idea Resource Systems.

About 1,000 school children in each country were surveyed in September and October last year.

The survey found that 54.8 percent of Chinese high school students chat frequently with their parents, compared with 82 percent in Japan and 73.8 percent in the United States.

More than 20 percent of Chinese students feel they have nobody to confide in compared to 8.4 percent of American students.

"It is quite related with the Chinese culture. Since the Chinese are more reluctant to reveal their feelings, neither parents nor children are used to being extroverted, thus leaving obstacles with their communication," the survey said.

But the survey also found that about 97 percent of Chinese high school students respect their parents while the figure is 92.9 percent, 85 percent and 71.5 percent respectively in the U.S., the Republic of Korea and Japan.

Only 10 percent of Chinese high school students often oppose their parents, much lower than the 50.5 percent of Japanese and 41.9 percent of the Republic of Korea students.

(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2009)