Parents in Guangdong Province will be prodded to communicate better with their children if a provincial juvenile delinquency prevention draft is passed.

The draft, submitted Thursday to the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress, said "parents or other custodians must frequently communicate with minors under the age of 18 in their custody."

The draft also said parents should not avoid this responsibility even if the children are living, studying or working in other places.

Yet the draft did not clarify the frequency of parent-child communication. Nor there is any mention of penalties for violating the law.

Legislators said the draft was intended to curb the rising juvenile delinquency rate, much of which stems from insufficient communication in the family.

"The parent-child relationship plays a crucial role in the child's maturing process," said He Deyao, an official with the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress.

He said legislators are trying to ask the parents, through an established law, "to encourage children to take part in healthy activities."

(Xinhua News Agency September 22, 2006)