Law can protect children from the prying of parents

Zhang bing from Xichang, Sichuan province in southwestern China, who is frequently absent from home on business trips, set up scrutiny cameras in his home. His 17-year-old daughter, however, believed her father was violating her privacy, and felt so angry that she left home and hasn't been back for a week. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Tuesday:

While the law addresses the importance of the role of parents as protectors, the rights of children at home haven't been fully clarified. This leads to most of the conflicts in the relationships between parents and children.

As a matter of fact, living with their parents under one roof, adolescents may easily find they have little privacy. Not to mention that some parents' traditional Chinese mindset of parental dictatorship shows little respect for the privacy of children, and leads to parents peeking into their children's diaries or digging into their school bags.

In the absence of proper legal support and established family boundaries, children may seek ways to defend their rights and demonstrate their need for privacy, for example, by leaving home.

In fact, legislators should think of how to establish a rational and harmonious family relationship as an important legislative task. This means safeguarding children's privacy rights in the law, which should establish a private sphere for children's activities and protect it from unwanted intrusion.