Experts are calling for more regulation of the internet to limit unhealthy influences on teenagers.

Li Jiangzhou, headmaster of Beijing's No. 19 Middle School and a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), proposed reinforcing internet laws.

Online forums where anyone can register anonymously abound, which means that students are exposed to lots of "unhealthy material", Li said.

He cited a forum about "my experience of conflict" full of vengeful remarks by students about their teachers and classmates. "This can be harmful to their study and healthy development," said Li.

Shang Xiuyun, judge of the juvenile court and a member of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, worries about the influence of online games on children.

"Many online games emphasize violence and eroticism," she said, "they blur youngsters' moral perception and drag them down into a loss of respect for human life."

But Shang did not think more laws was necessarily the best solution. She said that techniques should be developed so that students can filter unhealthy stuff on the internet.

Besides, she said the reason why young people log onto unhealthy websites is partly because there aren't enough good ones for them. She suggested creating captivating websites that hold their interest. "This is ultimately more useful than subjecting them to bans," she said.

Over the past few years, China has seen an alarming rise in the number of teenagers addicted to internet cafes and gaming.

A report released by the China National Children's Center last year claimed that 13 percent of Chinese internet users under the age of 18 are internet addicts.

Official statistics show that the number of internet users in China reached 123 million in mid-2006. About 15 percent of the total - or 18 million - are under the age of 18.

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2007)