Shanghai people's congress is drafting a new regulation to help better protect its youth from a variety of threats.

The top priority of the legislation will be how to guarantee students' safety in schools, prevent them from being overloaded with work both inside and outside school and ensure that they are not subjected to violent or pornographic content when surfing the Web.

According to the draft, which will soon be submitted to the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, the city is determined to take effective steps to relieve students of the heavy study burden which has plagued them for many years.

Shanghai is likely to be the first municipality in the country to draw up a complete juvenile protection code in this way.

The draft regulation stipulates that all schools should stick to the city's authorized standard curriculum. Teachers will not be allowed to add teaching content or assign homework beyond the authorized amount.

Schools will be prevented from forcing their students to take extra classes or leasing their classrooms for additional classes to be held in them, something which has become both a physical and economic burden to the students.

"It is the first time that the city has written the 'alleviation of study burden of students' into a regulation," said Gu Jun, a professor at Shanghai University.

"Although the government has issued notices to prevent such extra courses before, due to the lack of the compulsory force, these different paid summer courses still widely exist by taking on alternative names such as 'summer camps' or 'interest teams.'"

A recent media report indicated that such a "training site" exists in western Shanghai and was filled with students just 10 days after their summer holiday began.

The "training site" looks exactly like a school with more than 1,000 students going there every morning and leaving at 4 pm.

The students complained that they were even busier during the vacations, but they really learn very little from these classes.

"The teachers don't talk much, and just give us a lot of exercises and tests to do," said Wu Mingqiang, a middle school student, who has also been forced by his parents to take such courses.

Experts warned that putting too much pressure on students will backfire.

"Students will only develop a hatred towards study, and too much work can also harm their health," Gu said.

He said the legislation, which states that schools and parents are both obligated to ensure that young people have enough leisure time and rest, is very timely.

Apart from the stipulations about the study burden, the draft regulation has also made it a necessity for all local primary and middle schools to put a person in charge of the security on campus and to protect both the lives and property of the children.

The Shanghai People's Congress spokesman Wang Zongyan said this is to deal with increased bullying on campus.

He referred to a recent example in Chuansha District, in which a 17-year-old student suffering from bullying by his fellow students joined a gang in order to better protect himself.

The draft of the new regulation requires all schools to improve contact with the students' families.

It adds that, when a student plays truant, their parents should be informed.

The regulation also forbids under-18s from going to Internet cafes and urges institutions with Internet services to prevent young people from having access to harmful material. Severe fines will be imposed on Internet cafes allowing young people to use them.

No dance halls, Internet cafes, videogame parlors, adult products shops or agricultural produce markets will be allowed to be open within 200 meters of any school, said the draft.

"The new regulation, if passed, will replace the current Regulation on the Protection of Children and Youth," Wang said.

"The latter was implemented in 1987, and many sections were found to be out of date."

In the draft of the new regulation, more than half of the old articles were revamped and some special articles were added to keep pace with social developments.

(China Daily August 9, 2004)