Summer Camps for China’s “Little Emperors”
Growing up without sisters or brothers, many Chinese young people find their inability to handle the relationships with parents, classmates, teachers and other members of the society. Many Chinese parents therefore, consider a spoonful of “chicken soup for the soul” a good choice for them, and pack them off to summer camp to improve themselves.
For further insight into China’s Me Generation please see Simon Elegant’s recent Time article.
Trend description
Some Chinese parents believe what their kids do in holidays can complement their education at school. Many Chinese children are sent to “summer camps” during their two-month summer vacations to learn English, how to play the piano, to lose weight and so on. If previous activities were mainly focused on enhancing scholastic abilities, this year a new type of camp is aiming to make Chinese youth more sociable. The fees for these “summer camps” may be more expensive, 1 to 3 times that of attending an English camp, but many parents are desperate to solve some of the steadily worsening problems of young Chinese society.
Case Studies
Internet Addiction Camp
Zhongqing Bainian recruits kids from 13 to 25, who are considered to be hooked to the internet. Additional admission requirements are being physically and mentally healthy. The organization declared having successfully worked out a comprehensive methods based on educational psychology, medicine and behavioral science to cure the “disease”. The tuition and fees are 6800 RMB for 30 days.
Image source: Childrenshope
Beijing University’s Youth Camp
The Training Camp for Chinese Youth is run by Beijing University has a series of summer courses. Each course lasts for one week with the cost of 2180 RMB. Main services include pre-camp psychological tests, psychological record filing and post-camp consultancy. So far half of the courses have been booked.
Image source: Johnsonedu
Psychology Camp
The Graduate School of Institute of Psychology, China Academy of Sciences (CAS), is also offering a summer camp this year. It recruits high school students who are interested in psychology or who need psychological counselling. During the summer camp, members can visit the laboratories of the Institute and talk face-to-face with the prestigious psychologists.
Trend Impact
Having implemented its one child policy for almost three decades, China is said to have more psychologically troubled young people than before. Some of them are hooked on internet games and online chatting. Many have become socially isolated and are unable to communicate with their peers, teachers or even their family. Chinese parents, who have long pushed their children hard at school in an attempt to get them into a good university, are slowly realizing that mental health is just as important as good exam scores, and that too much pressure can have seriously negative consequences on their child’s development.
Links
http://zhuanti.feloo.com/beijing/jyw_xly/
