A social problem on moral grounds

The suspected involvement of famous singer Li Shuangjiang's 17-year-old son in a gang rape should be a warning for Chinese parents and schools that give priority to "intellectual education" over moral education. The boy has received the best school education in Beijing and "excelled" in singing and calligraphy but has been found wanting in moral values.

Good scores in exams and fine performances in extra-curricular activities alone do not make a good student. In fact, the undue emphasis on exams and scores has pitted intellectual education against moral education and created a big problem for society.

Morality is a core human element and the basic requirement for a person to be part of society. But the moral education that students get from their families, teachers and society is, to a large extent, confined to sermons that fail to have an impact on their characters. The times have changed, so have teenagers' interests and tastes. So instead of delivering lectures on morality, parents and teachers have to become examples of moral behavior. The problem, however, is that compared with intellectual education, imparting moral education is a painstaking and time-consuming affair, which many parents consider a waste of time for their children.