On March 5, Yang Fei died after being hit by a drunk driver. At the first trial on Sept 7, her parents claimed 1 yuan as compensation for her death. Since China follows a strict family planning policy, the authorities should take measures to compensate single-child parents properly and ensure they suffer as little trauma as possible, says an article on southcn.com. Excerpts:

The loss of a child for parents cannot be compensated with money. Today a majority of parents have only one child, so if their children die in an accident they will suffer irreparable damage, which cannot be compensated in any way.

The loss of an only child brings untold sorrow and loneliness to parents, and makes their future uncertain because in China parents still depend on their children for a relatively comfortable old age not only in terms of money, but also emotional needs.

Even if such parents' social security is ensured, the emotional needs cannot be met if they lose their children. The void is even greater for single-child parents, for whom life can become meaningless.

Furthermore, the problems faced by single-child parents are many even if they do not lose their offspring in accidents. The authorities should pay greater attention to these negative aspects, especially the psychological problems of old parents who are left to fend for themselves because their children have to work in far-off cities.

In such a case, it was a tragedy to see the parents of the girl who died in the March 5 accident claim just 1 yuan as compensation. We should realize that they were not running after money, but drawing society's attention to the condition of families like theirs.

The authorities should address this issue and try their best to lessen such parents' pain and provide them as much help as possible.