DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
There are no statistics on rural children taken to cities and abandoned there. At No. 76 High School in Zhengzhou, 80 percent of students are children of migrant workers, and there are nearly 300 in the same sad situation as Xin Xin and Sun Yu, according to Chen Guangrong, vice president of the school.
Some are in boarding class like Xin Xin, others are under the care of relatives, Chen said.
Parents leave their children in cities instead of back at home because of what they see as better educational resources. Cities may have better facilities, but they also harbor more temptations.
Teacher Song Junmei said children without parental care tend to have problems like truancy, fighting, Internet addiction and drugs. One of her students stole cellphones and money for Internet surfing because his family cut off his allowance.
Psychologist Wang Xiangnan wants the government to work out the size of the problem and address the issue.
"These children are an emerging phenomenon that needs public attention. Lack of family values in an urban environment may lead to disaster," he said.
Wang advised volunteers, such as university students, to do all they can for these children to help them deal with their problems.
