After banning body contact, like holding hands, between boys and girls on campus, another regulation has put group dancing in junior middle and primary schools in Beijing under the scanner. The revised regulations are aimed at dispelling the worries of parents and school authorities, who believe that body contact between boys and girls hampers their healthy development, says an article on gmw.cn. Excerpts:

Many Chinese parents don't want their children to get into a relationship during their school years. At the same time, they hope their children would marry someone who has an excellent academic record, excels in his/her field and owns (or would shortly own) a house and perhaps a car. Parents can't be criticized for what they think. But the problem is that nobody can be perfect right from his/her childhood; every person has to pass through the rigmarole of life, face the obstacles and overcome them before proving his/her mettle.

Puppy love, which many parents are vehemently opposed to, is not the same for everyone. In many cases, adolescent students in love help each other not only with studies, but also to get admitted to prestigious universities. More importantly, it's natural for adolescents to fall in love, and their feelings cannot be controlled by school authorities or their parents.

What school authorities and parents should do is to properly guide adolescents through the pits and falls of student life. By banning students from holding hands, the authorities have shown that they don't understand how teenagers' mind and heart work.

Compared with their counterparts in Western countries, and even in Japan and the Republic of Korea, Chinese children have very little interaction with peers of the opposite gender, which could make them unsuitable for future relationship. When the growing number of eligible, unmarried youths has become a social concern, why are we trying to stop teenagers from holding hands and possibly walking into a fruitful relationship?

(China Daily 10/17/2013 page9)