On 2 July, the “2012 - National Symposium on Healthy Personalities of Left-Behind Children” was held successfully in the Liang Ma He Building in Beijing.
On 2 July, the “2012 - National Symposium on Healthy Personalities of Left-Behind Children” was held successfully in the Liang Ma He Building in Beijing.
This event was hosted by the Organizing Committee Office of the Cultural Warmth Program for Migrant Workers in China and the China Population Communication Center and was co-hosted by Aviva-Cofco, with the purpose of appealing to society to pay attention to the early development of left-behind children in China, to understand their psychological characteristics, and to concentrate on the mental health as well as the personality development of the left-behind children. During the seminar, the host and co-host jointly launched the "2012 - Left-Behind Children's Healthy Personality Report."
Relevant officials from the Migrant Agricultural Workers Office of the State Council, the China Women's Federation, the Publicity and Education Department of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, the Migrant Population Service Management Division and the China Family Planning Association, along with representatives from Aviva-Cofco, experts and scholars on healthy personalities of left-behind children, and representatives of actual left-behind children attended the seminar and discussed psychological and healthy personality development issues of children who are left behind when their parents move to urban areas to find work.
Caring for Left-Behind Children, "From the Surface to the Interior"
As we all know, the driving force that promotes the remarkable economic development in China is the large-scale population movement from the country to the city. In the past nine years, 120 million people have made the move from rural areas to the cities. This migration of almost one-tenth of the total population of China has contributed to the country’s economic development. However, it has also created a special group - thousands of children are left behind by migrating parents.
Because of the uniqueness and importance of this group, "concerning and caring for left-behind children" has solemnly become a problem recognized by the entire society. The community has done a lot of work to improve this group’s living conditions. However, urbanization in China is far from over, and modernization is developing strongly, so the migrant population and the phenomenon of left-behind children will exist for a long time still to come. This means that the numbers of left-behind children might increase rather than decrease.
According to relevant information, in some areas currently 85% of the school-aged children have been left behind. Right now, there are many organizations, institutions and groups who care for this group of children, but most concentrate their attention on the children’s physical health and living conditions.
While according to the joint research by the China Population Communication Center, the Sociology and Population Institute of Renmin University of China, the Institute of Developmental Psychology of Beijing Normal University, and the Institution for Social Research of Guizhou Academy of Social Sciences, children who are left behind in China suffer from serious personality defects, especially in their ability to communicate with strangers, bouts of severe loneliness, and some other aspects.
The crime and suicide rates of left-behind children are generally higher than their peers. This is a hint of the severe personality defects that left-behind children suffer from. This group has a strong physical condition, while its psychological conditions and personalities are worrying. Situations such as this can create a hidden danger for millions of happy families in China and even to the subsequent economic and social development.
We should pay attention to both the amount and the "quality," to the physical conditions as well as the "psychological conditions." There is no doubt that mental health and personality issues of left-behind children urgently need widespread attention from the whole society.
Caring for Left-Behind Children Requires "Multiple Participants"
While giving a speech representing the host organization, the Director of the China Population Communication Center said that left-behind children make up a special group that was created with the reform and opening up of the economy and the process of urbanization. They are a product of a special historical period in China's development.
The mental health and the cultivation of the children’s personalities are important issues of modern society.
The children are far away from the love of their parents for a long time, and they live a lonely life in special, difficult conditions. They have more personality defects when compared to other adolescents. Providing more love and care for these left-behind children, and giving more research-proven and strong guidance and assistance to help these children to build healthy personalities is not only related to the happiness of the migrant workers' families, but also to the stability and healthy development of society as a whole.
These are long-term goals and necessary duties of all levels of government, relevant departments and the whole of society.
During the seminar, Mr Duan Chengrong from the Institute of Developmental Psychology of Beijing Renmin University emphasized that the personality problems of left-behind children are usually hidden and difficult to detect, while their influence is far-reaching.
"Because of the changes of the family environment, the children who are left behind have developed some personality traits, such as the following. Firstly, they have issues experiencing warmth in groups of people. Secondly, they are not emotionally stable, being easy to get upset and having weak self-control abilities. Thirdly, they have low self-esteem and are often cautious and taciturn. Fourthly, they are depressed and uneasy. Fifthly, they are impulsive and not able to control themselves. Sixthly, they are nervous and anxious."
In addition, in reports from other experts, it was mentioned that the psychological conditions of left-behind children tend to be worse than those of children who were in the past or never were left behind. The detection rate of psychological conditions is quite high, especially in learning anxiety, anxiety when communicating with people, sensitivity and impulsiveness.
Simon Machell, chief executive officer, higher growth markets, Aviva, said: "Twinkling Stars - A Public Welfare Plan for Left-Behind Children in Rural China is a public-service activity of Aviva-Cofco adopted from Aviva’s Street to School experience. Since 2010, more than 20 caring rooms have been built in more than 10 provinces in China, over 600 volunteers have participated (including Aviva-Cofco staff and clients), and almost 60,000 left-behind children have received spiritual and psychological care through the well-prepared courses and various outdoor activities.
"This year, the Twinkling Stars - A Public Welfare Plan for Left-Behind Children in Rural China program will continue to extend and carry out charity activities in 11 provinces in China to advocate that society pay more attention and care to left-behind children."
Facing a worrying level of mental health and personality development of left-behind children, we hope to change the mental health conditions of these children through personality education. Meanwhile, we hope that the government, companies, academic institutions and caring individuals from all over society can participate in this activity to help these left-behind children, who are just beginning to form their views of the world, of life and of societal values, to get to know society and to integrate into society.
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Notes to editors:
The Aviva-Cofco Insurance Co, Ltd is jointly founded by Aviva and Cofco. Beginning operations on 1 January 2003, it has a registered capital of 2.94598 billion RMB. Even after years of strategic manoeuvring and market expansion, Aviva-Cofco always holds close to the concepts of financial soundness and standardized operations. It occupies the first echelon of foreign-owned insurance corporations with an operations area covering more than 50 major cities in Guangdong, Beijing, Sichuan, Fujian, Shandong, Hunan, Hebei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Hubei, Henan, and Helongjiang provinces, etc.