Experts call for child abuse crime after kindergarten scandals

 Experts call for child abuse crime after kindergarten scandals

BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- A crime of child abuse should be established in law to better protect children from abusive teachers or household nurses, according to Chinese experts.

"The laws abroad stipulate¹ clear-cut penalties for child abuse. But in China, such acts are banned in law formally with vague definitions and weak punishment," said Yao Jianlong, a member of the China Institute on Research of Juvenile² Delinquency.

The call for legislation comes after a number of scandals over the past couple of years in the country, two recent ones in particular.

In one case, a picture posted on the Internet last Wednesday showed a 20-year-old teacher, surnamed Yan in a kindergarten in eastern Zhejiang Province, holding up a student by his ears with his feet about 10 centimeters off the ground.

The boy surnamed Lin was crying while Yan smiled. The woman was sacked by the local education authority and detained by police. She told police she did it "just for fun."

In another case, earlier this month, a five-year-old kindergarten girl was slapped in the face for more than 10 minutes by her female teacher Li Zhuqing in north China's Shanxi Province. Li, who was detained for 15 days, beat the girl just because she failed to answer a mathematics question.

In China's criminal law, the crime of abuse is applicable among family members. Usually, suspects of child abuse in kindergartens are put under administrative³ detention⁴ for up to 15 days. This means they will not face criminal charges.

China's constitution and laws on compulsory⁵ education and protection of minors⁶ consists of relevant items regarding child abuse, but the criminal law has no specific crime for child abuse, Yao added.

"Children suffer more mentally than physically⁷ from mistreatment. If the crime of child abuse and its penalties are not defined separately in criminal law, such scandals will continue to increase," warned Yao.

The boy which Yan had abused is currently staying at home as his ears still hurt, his mother said. "He is afraid of going to school and has nightmares," the mother added.

In the scandal in Zhejiang, police detained Yan for provoking a disturbance⁸, a crime in which a suspect can face jail of up to seven years if convicted.

The judiciary authorities could issue an interpretation⁹ to expand the definition of the crime of abuse to include other cases between teachers and students, or babies and household nurses, lawyers have suggested.

Last year, Liang Xiuhuan, 44, dubbed¹⁰ by netizens as "the cheekiest and most villainous nurse", tossed a ten-month-old baby in the air and let the boy fall on a bed. Liang beat the baby and even forced him to nibble¹¹ her toes. She was hired to take care of the baby in his home in Shenyang, capital of northeastern Liaoning Province. She got a 15-day administrative detention.

A video shot by household cameras was posted on the Internet raising public concerns.

"Perhaps other cases of baby abuse exist but are not exposed. This shows the need to overhaul¹² the household nursing sector," said Hu Gang, a commerce administration official in Shenyang.

Due to a lack of government investment, the number of private kindergartens is much higher than that of state-funded ones in many places in China. Low wages offered by private kindergartens lead to a shortage of qualified¹³ staff.

In Zhejiang Province alone, 40 percent of the 100,000 teachers in kindergartens have no teaching qualifications. The majority of the unlicensed teachers work in private schools.

"It is necessary to have relevant laws. But the qualities of teaching staff should be improved too," said Yu Yongchang, an education expert in Shenyang.

1 stipulate   

vt.规定，（作为条件）讲定，保证

参考例句：

• International rules stipulate the number of foreign entrants.国际规则规定了外国参赛者的人数。
• Some manufacturers stipulate the price at which their goods are to be sold.有些制造商规定出售他们生产的商品的价格。

2 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

3 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

4 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

5 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

6 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

8 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

9 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

10 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 nibble   

n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵

参考例句：

• Inflation began to nibble away at their savings.通货膨胀开始蚕食他们的存款。
• The birds cling to the wall and nibble at the brickwork.鸟儿们紧贴在墙上，啄着砖缝。

12 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

13 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。