Most youngsters report seeing bullying

A majority of students polled in a recent national survey reported experiencing or witnessing school bullying, a finding one expert blamed on the reduction of good social conduct on the Internet.

The survey found 73.3 percent of 1,002 survey participants had encountered school bullying, including verbal and physical abuse. Around 54.3 percent of those polled said reporting of such incidents has been on the rise.

In an interview with China Youth Daily, Miao Weiming, an expert specializing in juvenile delinquency studies at East China University of Political Science and Law, said school violence has been escalating in cruelty and randomness as well.

"The virtual nature of the Internet has freed people from the restriction of social conduct. Immersing in online games filled with killing for long periods of time, juveniles, with a cloudy understanding of morals, tend to use violence for power in real life," Miao said.

According to the survey, just over half of the respondents said parents and schools should take joint action to better prevent children from bullying or being bullied.

"It is not only the so-called bad students who should be blamed for this situation. Teachers and parents who neglect their children's education must take their due responsibility," a netizen, "Ninibaobei", wrote on the micro blog Sino Weibo.

Wang Qi, a vice-principal of Beijing Wenhui High School, told China Youth Daily that parents and teachers should show more care and patience toward children who are prone to violence in an effort to teach them respect and how to distinguish between good and bad in daily life.

At the same time, it is equally crucial to teach children how to properly protect themselves from and deal with school bullying, Wang said.

A string of violent incidents involving minors has raised the public's attention to the issue. Last month, a video posted online appeared to show several children burning a first-grade boy with cigarettes in Zhejiang province. In early May, media reported that a student from Anhui province tried to extort money from his classmates and forced anyone who disobeyed him to drink urine.