Legal professionals in east China's Jiangsu Province have teamed up to create a website that will offer free help and advice to young people in the province. The website will go online next week.

"We got permission to open the website last month, and more than 500 lawyers from across the province have already signed an agreement to extend voluntary consultancy to youngsters through the website," said Shen Benjin, vice-director of the Underage People Protection Commission under the Jiangsu Provincial Association of Lawyers yesterday.

According to Shen, their association has been working for years to set up this network.

The website's address is www.jsls.org/helpkids/index.

"The main reason for the high juvenile crime rate is that the country still lacks awareness of treating youngsters as a group with legal rights that deserve to be respected. Adults can abuse youngsters subconsciously, and we, as legal professionals, should shoulder responsibility to change the situation," said Shen.

According to Shen, infringements by schools, parents and society as a whole on children's education and life rights are the main issues at present.

Several cases of pupils being deprived of the right to study and forced to work in factories have been reported across the country recently.

According to a report by Nanjing-based Yangtze Evening Post last week, a local court in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, fined four companies 10,000 yuan (US$1,250) to 40,000 yuan (US$5,000) for hiring juvenile workers.

Lowering the juvenile crime rate is another goal of the website, according to Shen.

"Youngsters are vulnerable to many unhealthy influences in this time of social transition. They might fall into a life of crime if no one helps them. We hope our efforts can help ease this problem a little bit," said Shen.

News of the website was warmly received by children and parents in the province.

"At the moment we are required to obey parents and teachers unconditionally. Sometimes I doubt their decisions, but there is no way to challenge their authority. But now I can ask these lawyers about whether an adult's decision is right or wrong," said Wu Haoming, a middle school student in Nanjing.

For Wu Jing, Wu Haoming's father, "such a voluntary network can eliminate financial concerns of parents when we are protecting the rights of our victimized children. Hiring a lawyer is not something that every family can afford."

As well as dealing with issues raised through the website, the lawyers will also voluntarily extend help in legal cases they come across in their daily lives, said Xi Hui, an employee of the commission.

Furthermore, the commission will work with local educational bureaus to raise legal awareness among children.

This year several similar websites have been established by legal professionals in major cities across the country, Xi added.

"Hopefully one day, with attention and support from the whole of society, the legal rights of young people will get the respect they deserve," said Xi.

(China Daily June 7, 2006)