Handsome boys and pretty girls regularly fall in love, hang out at bars and clubs and swindle money from their families, -- such stories are often profiled in the pages of many magazines popular with middle school students in Beijing. And some parents are fighting back.

The Beijing Morning Post recently ran an article about an anxious mother who had contacted the newspaper to complain about how popular love story magazines had become among students.

The mother stated her belief that these magazines regularly featured stories about handsome boys and pretty girls from rich families living luxurious and romantic lives, their days dominated by play and fun.

Bringing parents' ire is the behavior of the protagonists. For example, the girls talk dirty and even fight, while the boys visit bars and dance halls. Their classmates show suspicion and envy, and betrayals in matters of love are common.

The last for the anguished mother was that the magazines also featured pictures of intimate physical contact, which the mother considered "too much for middle school students."

Of course, few students would share this opinion, according to a salesperson at one newsstand in Beijing. "They sell well and are often on the bestseller list," said the salesperson.

According to Yang Shu, a grade-one student at the middle school affiliated with Peking University, the magazines are popular since they provide escapism by presenting situations totally different from those experienced by ordinary middle school students.

"Compared with our lives of endless homework and discipline from both our families and schools, the boys and girls in the stories are just so free and live carefree and funny lives," said Yang, a devoted fan of love magazines.

But Yang added that she was not interested in living the kind of life described in the stories, stressing that "a story is just a story, and they are only meant to spice up the lives of bored students."

Zhang Yongqi, the principal of Beijing's No.12 high school, said parents and schools should worry less about their children's adolescent emotional needs but instead guide their children's interests toward reading in more formal environments, such as libraries. "Just a little more care can make a big difference," said Zhang.

(China Daily January 9, 2007)