Psychological experts have urged Chinese parents to communicate about emotions and feelings with their children to help them develop a healthy mind and easy character, and avoid lapsing into autism.

The alert sounded to the dangers of the psychological disorder mainly affecting children following a recent survey among 765 students in five primary and junior schools in Guangzhou, capital of south Guangdong Province, which is one of the country's economically developed areas.

The survey on children's view on family education showed that more than 40 percent of the interviewees wanted their parents to have a sense of humor, more than 20 percent would like to join their parents in games, web surfing and other entertainment activities, and about 16 percent regarded chatting and communication with parents as the favorites at home.

Experts at the provincial psychological health research institute said that the survey reflects the loneliness of children in the present-day society, where high-rises estrange children from each other.

Chinese children meet their peers and friends mostly during the school time and spend their spare time alone at their own homes without companions to play games with or do group activities together with.

Adding to the solitude is that, said the experts, their parents are fully occupied by work and other businesses and thus have not enough time to share with their offspring.

The experts warned that those children alienated from the community for quite a long time are prone to autism, a condition most common among children characterized by self-absorption, which could cause them to grow into adults indifferent to others' feelings and lacking community sense and social responsibility.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2003)