Anger management arrives on campus
By Liang Chao (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-16 06:46

Stereotypically, China is a land where peace and meditation keep negative emotions in check.

Anger is an indulgence; only through true self-knowledge can you overcome your inner demons.

Alternatively, you could beat the living daylights out of a picture of whoever it is that has been bugging you.

Anger management has come east and it is not pretty.

The Chengdu-based Southwest Jiaotong University has set aside a special room for students to let off steam.

Several sandbags line the walls, waiting to be pummelled by students venting their frustrations.

Pictures of a personal "enemy" can be pasted onto the bags to add to the experience, local media reported.

Students have flocked to the room since it opened 8 days ago and hundreds more have booked in, presumably in anticipation of upcoming bouts of fury.

The room, says Ning Weiwei, a professor of psychology at the college and founder of the facility, is a good way for students to deal with frustrations such as being lovesick, failing to find a job or unhappiness with roommates.

College students, he said, are a special group with high intelligence but poor self-control.

"We want to help students let out their intense animosity or hostility without storing up such hatred," he explained.

As part of the college's psychological assessment laboratory, the room will be fully operational by the end of the month.

The laboratory is designed to test and evaluate the psychological condition of first-year students, allowing them to release their hate, before providing counselling for any more serious mental problems.

However, other experts have accused the room of being superficial.

"Using it to help students with mental problems is totally senseless," said Chen Xin, a psychologist with the Institute of Sociology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The room, he said, does not tackle the root cause of students' anger.

"China's elite education system and rapid economic development have misled young students," Chen added.

According to Chen, the country's examination-oriented system has warped the values of many students who lack the tolerance long espoused by traditional Chinese philosophy.

Yang Ying, a psychologist from the Beijing-based Boss Psychological Consultation Centre, called the room a temporary quick-fix.

Working out frustrations on sandbags, he said, would only be effective for a few days.

(China Daily 11/16/2005 page3)