Help migrants' children enjoy holidays

Children from Matou town, Tancheng county, play soccer at a Soccer Amusement Park in Linyi, East China's Shandong province, on April 29, 2016. Their parents have left their hometown for work and hardly have time to come back home, making them left-behind children. [Photo/VCG]

MANY CHILDREN OF MIGRANT WORKERS in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, have spent the summer holiday doing nothing but homework and playing games on their phones while visiting their parents, according to reports. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Tuesday:

The kids of migrant workers, who often travel far to be with their parents for the two months of the summer holiday, often end up spending not much time with them, as their parents are busy working. The visiting children therefore have little option but to do homework and play games on their cellphones, day in and day out.

These children are easily ignored as their parents are struggling to make a living in cities. And their awareness of the wealth gap that exists between their families and those that live in the cities could make them feel uncomfortable.

Gaining equal access to household registration benefits such as social welfare, quality education and decent pay is never easy for migrant workers. As a result, their children also lack the means to enjoy meaningful summer vacations, whether it be summer camps or cultural activities. Most of the time they simply stay indoors alone, while their parents toil to make ends meet.

Although many left-behind children and migrant workers have received extra care and assistance over the past few years, the reports of unattended rural youngsters dying in accidents and the "caged" kids during summer vacation, highlight the fact that more needs to be done to materialize government assistance.

Providing more activities such as community camps for the children of migrant workers during the summer holidays, would be one way to support them. Employers of migrant workers could also hire people to keep the kids company and take care of them during work hours, or give some workers a day or two off for family reunions.