Chinese parents are being encouraged to educate their children properly — morally, physically and psychologically — as a new law on family education came into effect on Jan 1.

The new law became a trending topic on Sina Weibo on Monday, with the hashtag "Chinese parents now have to raise children in accordance with the law" being read more than 300 million times as of Tuesday afternoon.

The Law on Family Education Promotion stipulates the responsibilities of guardians and society in terms of family responsibility, State support, social collaboration and legal responsibility.

Parents and other guardians should learn ways to promote family education and improve their teaching skills, the law said, adding that they are primarily responsible for educating their children, while the government, schools and society should offer support.

Parents should pay attention to the physical, psychological and intellectual development of their children and respect their right to voice their opinions on family affairs, the law said.

The law also stipulates that parents or other guardians should not use violence to discipline their children, nor should they discriminate against youth based on their gender or physical condition.

Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, said the main purpose of the new law is to encourage parents to shoulder their responsibility for raising their children with the help of government institutions and schools. The law is important as parents have different abilities and resources, and some either are not capable of, or do not want to, take on such responsibilities.

Sun Hongyan, head of youth and children research at the China Youth and Children Research Center, said with the introduction of the new law, family education was no longer just a family matter but a State affair. Now, when parents fail to educate properly, they might be violating the law.

With an increasingly competitive working environment, some parents have paid more attention to their career development while overlooking their children's development, Sun was quoted as saying by Guangming Daily.

Family education isn't a trivial matter, she said, but an important one that concerns the future of the country, so it is necessary for a new law to be promulgated to reinforce its significance.

The law also included clauses about government support and social collaboration in family education.

Li Zhengtao, education professor at East China Normal University in Shanghai, said failure in parenting often leads to misbehaving children and creates heavy burdens on the family.

The new law would fundamentally reduce parents' burdens by guiding them to better assume their responsibility and work with teachers to educate their children, so they can grow healthily, he said.

(Source: China Daily)