60% of parents encourage their kids to battle bullying back: survey

Some six in 10 Chinese parents tell their children to fight back when bullied, according to a report in Chengdu Economic Daily.

A kindergarten in Leshan City in the southwestern province of Sichuan conducted a survey among 35 parents to find their reaction to school bullies.

About 60 percent said they emphasized training their children to be tough, while 25 percent suggested their kids stay away from those who bully others rather than answering violence with violence.

Local resident Wu Ping said her 5-year-old son met bullies in kindergarten and his grandfather urged him to fight back. She disagreed with that way of coping, but also worried her son might become a coward.

Yang Jiao, who organized the survey, said 90 percent of parents reported their children brawled with others or were bullied at school. But it also showed 9 percent of parents admitted hitting their children often and 86 percent only occasionally. Thirty-four percent of parents fought with each other in front of their kids.

Xiong Bingqi, an educational expert, urged parents to not advocate violence against violence because it's possible that a child may become aggressive in later stages of life.