Beijing prosecutors helping errant minors to get back on track

Beijing prosecutors have pledged to continue addressing issues of improper family education and lack of guardianship in cases involving children, and do their best to protect minors and help those who had gone astray get back on the right track.

"Behind cases of minors committing crimes or being harmed, we've often seen problems such as inadequate family supervision and insufficient family education. So, we've taken some measures over the past few years to alleviate such situations," Yue Xiangyang, deputy prosecutor-general of the People's Procuratorate of Beijing Municipality, told a news conference on Thursday.

"For instance, some families had children who were addicted to the internet and even dropped out of school due to inadequate parental supervision, while some had poor parent-child relationships due to violence and abuse toward the children," he said. "Additionally, some guardians lacked safety awareness, putting their children at risk of harm. We've devised tailored guidance plans for different family problems, and then issued directives to prompt parents to make improvements."

Since 2021, the capital's prosecutors have issued 672 directives to promote family supervision and 158 orders to bolster family education, he revealed. He noted that the move also aims to implement the Family Education Promotion Law, which took effect on Jan 1, 2022.

"Moreover, we've also worked with other authorities, including women's federations, public security and courts, as well as social organizations, to provide psychological counseling and legal assistance to juvenile offenders, victims and their families, in an effort to help them tackle difficulties and get back on track to a normal life," he said.

In one case, after learning that a migrant worker who died in a traffic accident in Beijing had three children, prosecutors from Dongcheng district visited the hometown of the deceased to learn about the children's needs. They then established a team including prosecutors and representatives of local departments in civil affairs, education and the women's federation to jointly offer care, financial aid, psychological counseling and legal assistance to them, according to Ge Lu, deputy head of the procuratorate's juvenile division.

"The children will grow up healthy when they feel cared for and valued," he explained, adding that this approach is also conducive to preventing the secondary harm to the children caused by lack of family supervision.