China's Wild Youth

According to the article "Bad Company" by Matthew Forney/Yinchuan, posted on Time.com 11/4/02, China's youth have gown increasingly violent. Teenage gang members hurl explosive devices at enemies, assault and rape citizens, and murder authority figures such as teachers. They have a taste for drugs, rock music, and believe they owe the world nothing. They also make up China's fastest growing criminal group.

Experts see a moral vacuum as the driving force behind this trend. Chinese youth are disillusioned with the ideals of Communism, and religion has been discouraged by the government. Divorce rates are rising, families are crumbling, and after-school activities and team sports are all but nonexistent. These children form gangs like their Western counterparts as a way of filling an emotional void. As a result, three-fourths of youth involved in crimes are also involved with a gang, many with ties to criminal syndicates. Shan Guangnai of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences commented, "With this many kids going bad, it looks to me like society is falling apart."

Unfortunately, the government does little to keep kids out of gangs. Since there are few juvenile detention centers, teen offenders are housed with adult criminals, which provides the teens useful contacts in the criminal world. These kids become the petty thugs who work for loan sharks once they're released. They learn new methods for beating and torturing clients who won't pay protection money, and while many say they won't kill, most agree that they would cut off fingers if necessary.

Some parents are able to afford to pull police strings on behalf of their children, but most are not. Once in the system, it is difficult for them to get out and go straight. They want to be important, to be a leader, but chose the path that sends them toward an uncertain future. For them, a violent death is often a foregone conclusion.

Based on what we have studied concerning China's youth, it appears that while they have more opportunities than ever, they are squandering their potential on lives of decadence and violence, of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Increased affluence of some has led to resentment by those who have not yet made it. The lax moral code encourages the pursuit of money above all else, and indulgent parents encourage sloth and laziness by providing for their able-bodied offspring long after they could provide for themselves (much like the spoiled children of America!).

Fortunately for China, this does not apply to all Chinese youth. As long as there are more children who are taught to value education above violence, and right from wrong, China will have a future. If the scale ever tips in the other direction, the entire society will implode. It's up to the parents to set good examples, and the youth to decide which path they will take.