Care for left-behind children

Five vagabond children aged 10 to 13, died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a dumpster in Bijie, Southwest China's Guizhou province, on Nov 16, 20 km away from their homes in a nearby village.

Four of them dropped out of school and refused to go back despite their teachers' efforts to persuade them to do so. They are brothers of poor families and their parents are peasants or migrant workers living hand-to-mouth.

These children are typical left-behind children who are victims of a lack of concern from parents and various psychological problems.

As their custodians, the parents just could not afford to take their children with them. They had no choice but to leave the children with their grandparents.

The tragedy's root cause lies in the development model of China in the past several decades.

Although surplus rural laborers can leave their hometown to look for better-paying jobs, their hukou, or household registrations, remain solidly nailed in the villages, which is linked with education, social security and medical services.

As China is pursuing more human-oriented development, institutional obstacles between urban and rural areas should be gradually eliminated.

However, before this is realized, the governments of various levels and social organizations should do more to help the left-behind children and provide them with better educations and emotional care.

China has more than 200 million migrant workers. Their children should have as much a chance as their city counterparts to strive for better lives.

The authorities and society should put the changes within their reach. Or this huge group of children will become more trouble for their families and society in the future.

Translated by Li Yang from China Business News