In the 21st century, China has rushed to the front of the locomotive of science and technology and entered the stage of rapid development.Children are the flowers of the motherland, and the changes of the times and the development of the motherland also change their growing environment.For more than 20 years from the Millennium to the present, the economic level has developed rapidly, and science and technology have been constantly innovated. The countless conveniences and problems that followed have also been projected in children’s childhood life. Over the past 20 years, we have gone from promoting the popularization of education to advocating reducing the burden of education, from worrying about children’s malnutrition to having to face the increasingly serious obesity problem. At the same time, countless questions have been thrown out-do children need cram schools? How should children use the Internet scientifically?How can children have a healthy and happy childhood?
We will focus on the changes in all aspects of children’s lives since the 21st century, find the gratifying development trend, analyze the exposed problems and put forward our suggestions.
I. Education
1. Compulsory education
A century-long plan, education-oriented. China began to implement compulsory education in 1986. In the 21st century, the popularity of education in China has been greatly improved. The enrollment rate of primary school-age children has remained above 99%, while the enrollment rate of primary schools has stabilized at around 98%.Reach the standard of universal compulsory education.
In the process of promoting the implementation and balanced development of compulsory education, all localities are actively adjusting the layout of primary and secondary schools, especially standardizing the layout of rural primary and secondary schools, reducing the number of primary schools and improving the quality of teaching.
Because of the decline in birth rate, the number of primary school students is declining.From 2001 to 2013, the decline rate was as high as 25.4%, and the number of students has rebounded since then. The number of primary schools decreased from 491,300 in 2001 to 160,100 in 2019, with a drop of 67.4%, much higher than the decline in the number of students.
At the same time, the quality of the teaching staff has been continuously improved, the teacher-student ratio has increased significantly, and the national education funding has increased synchronously with the economic development. All changes have proved that,China has entered a new stage of promoting the balanced development of compulsory education and promoting educational equity. The state attaches great importance to basic education and strives to give children a better education so that every child can enter the hall of knowledge.
Step 2 read
Books are the ladder of human progress. In the initial stage of life, reading more books and reading good books are conducive to children’s moral education, enlightenment and history.
Since the 21st century, the number and types of children’s books in China have increased by spurt, and it is no longer hard to find a book.In 2001, there were 7,255 kinds of children’s books, but in 2019, there were 43,712 kinds, about five times as many as in 2001. At present, China publishes more than 40,000 kinds of children’s books every year.The total publishing volume ranks first in the world and has reached a rich enough level.Children in the new century have more reading choices and can draw spiritual food at any time.
In 2009, the "National Reading Survey Report" included "the reading status of minors under the age of 18" in the survey scope for the first time. Comparing the two reports in 2009 and 2019, which were separated by 10 years, we can find that the number of minors aged 0-17 in China.The reading volume and reading rate of books have been greatly improved.. The reading volume of children aged 0-8 increased the most, from 3.85 to 9.54 books per year.Behind the growth of children’s reading figures, school guidance and family companionship are indispensable.
The reading situation of teenagers indicates the future civilization and ideological thickness of a nation to a certain extent.. In this era surrounded by electronic devices, it is necessary for creators and publishers to publish more high-quality books, parents and schools to guide children to develop good reading habits, and the whole society to create a good reading atmosphere.
Since the founding of New China 70 years ago, the strategic position of giving priority to the development of education in China has been gradually strengthened. Facing the new era, we expect China education to lead the realization of the goal of "two hundred years" and realize the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.Following the development trend of the times, China has been constantly rebuilding, adjusting and reforming the educational mechanism and system, independently exploring China’s educational model, and striving to create a better learning environment for every child and help them grow up.
Second, health
With the arrival of the new century, the flowers of the motherland have taken on a new look.The morphological development level of primary and middle school students in urban and rural areas in China has been continuously improved, and the health problems such as malnutrition that have plagued children in China for decades have been greatly improved, and the physical fitness and health status of Chinese students have generally improved. But at the same time, the worrying obesity rate, myopia rate and lack of sleep time are also increasing.
Step 1 change for the better
Over the past 20 years, the level of morphological development of primary and middle school students in urban and rural areas in China has been continuously improved.At the same time, children’s physiological development has changed, such as accelerated growth rate, improved growth level and early puberty development, especially in urban children. With the development of economy, the improvement of diet level and the change of concept in the new era, the variety of food on children’s table is more abundant.Malnutrition, which has plagued children in China for decades, has greatly improved.
"Civilization of its spirit, barbarism of its body."It has always been the goal pursued by school education. According to the results of previous national surveys on students’ physique and health released by the Ministry of Education, students’ physique and health in China have generally improved. In 2019, the excellent and good rate of students aged 6-22 nationwide reached 23.8%, which was significantly higher than in previous years. At the same time, the level of students’ vital capacity has risen in an all-round way, and the quality of primary and secondary school students’ flexibility, strength, speed and endurance has improved.
In recent 20 years, the improvement of students’ physique and health level is attributed to the joint action of economic development, policy guidance and home-school coordination.
2. There are still problems
Due to the profound changes in the dietary structure and lifestyle of children and adolescents in recent years, coupled with the heavy academic burden and the popularity of electronic products,The rate of overweight and obesity among children in China is rising rapidly, which has become an important public health problem threatening the physical and mental health of children in China.
At the same time,The myopia rate of children in China is also the highest in the world for a long time. The formation of "a big country with glasses" cannot be ignored.In recent years, the detection rate of poor eyesight among primary and middle school students in China remains high. From 2000 to 2014, the detection rate of poor eyesight in all age groups has increased, and it shows a trend of increasing with age. The main reasons for the rising incidence of myopia among teenagers are premature contact with electronic products in infancy, early time for teenagers to "touch the internet", increased time for using electronic products, and insufficient time for sleep and exercise.The key age stages of myopia prevention and control are kindergartens and primary schools.
In view of the increasingly serious situation of myopia among adolescents, the Ministry of Education, the Health and Health Commission and other departments attach great importance to the prevention and control of myopia among children and adolescents, and cooperate with many parties to promote related work, and have achieved certain results.In 2020, the overall myopia rate of children and adolescents in China is 52.7%, which is 0.9 percentage points lower than that in 2018, basically achieving the prevention and control goal of the Comprehensive Prevention and Control Plan for Myopia of Children and Adolescents, which is 0.5 percentage points lower every year.However, there is still a long way to go to get rid of the "myopic country" hat.
Since the new century, the social emphasis on education has invisibly increased the learning pressure for children.In the new century, children’s learning burden is heavier, sleep time is reduced, and homework time is seriously exceeded.
To this end, the state also attaches great importance to and tries to solve it.From 2004, when the Ministry of Education officially put forward the policy of "reducing the burden" to 2021, how to reduce the burden without reducing the quality has always been a hot issue in society.
Since the 1990s, China has formulated a series of policies to reduce the burden, but studentsThe school time shows a trend of decreasing first and then increasing, which seems to reflect the game between increasingly fierce educational competition and burden reduction.
At the same time, the school has lightened students’ schoolwork burden, and parents have added a new burden to their children after class. In addition to the homework that must be completed in class, the time spent by children on extracurricular tutoring has increased greatly, and extracurricular learning and tutoring have come from behind and become the main burden for students. Comparing the time for children to finish homework with the length of sleep, it is not difficult to find that,After-school study has seriously squeezed the sleep time of children..
Children’s health is an important cornerstone of national health. Since the beginning of the 21st century, children’s growing environment has changed dramatically. While some chronic diseases have been solved, new problems have emerged. The state has been paying close attention to children’s health status, and timely issued guiding policies and opinions to protect children’s healthy growth.
Third, entertainment
Every child’s most hopeful moment should be when the school bell rings. It was the most carefree time, whether it was playing with friends in twos and threes after school, lingering in a snack bar filled with snacks, or trying the Internet in a novel way … The entertainment time in childhood will definitely leave traces in children’s hearts.
1. Internet
After the Millennium, children met the wave of internet popularization.In 1994, the Internet was connected to China, and then it developed with irresistible momentum. From 2002 to 2020, the number of netizens in China increased from 59 million to 989 million, and the internet penetration rate increased from 4.6% to 70.4%, especially in the two time periods of 2006-2010 and 2015-2020.
The constantly updated electronic equipment provides more options for their after-school entertainment.The Internet and electronic equipment have left a strong impression in the post-00′ s life and reflected the characteristics of the times.
In 2010, the Internet penetration rate in China has just exceeded 1/3, and children have little access to the Internet. At that time, only 13.5% of children were under the age of 6, while as many as 43.7% opened the door to the information world after the age of 10. Ten years later, the situation has changed dramatically. The proportion of children under the age of 6 who touch the internet has doubled, while the number of people who use the internet after the age of 10 has been greatly reduced to 13.6%. This shows that most "post-00" students skillfully shuttled between major websites as early as primary school.
Internet has become an inseparable part of children’s lives, and the problem of how to guide minors to use the Internet scientifically is also in front of everyone.Thanks to the joint efforts of the state, schools and parents, the entertainment function of the Internet has weakened in recent years, while the educational function has been significantly enhanced, and online education has developed rapidly during the epidemic. At the same time, in the new era, children’s single online time is becoming more and more reasonable, but the online frequency is greatly increased and the overall online time is prolonged.More scientific and technological inventions in the future will also bring about changes in children’s lifestyles. How to foster strengths and avoid weaknesses and use them scientifically? The general trend of the times gives the direction.
2. pocket money
Every child has a treasure-piggy bank.With the development of economy, the consumption level of children in China has also improved obviously, and children’s wallets are "bulging" day by day.
However, the increase in the amount of discretionary money does not seem to have caused children to fall into a frenzy of consumption. From 2005 to 2015, except for the snack consumption, which increased by 2%, other consumption showed a downward trend.Children in the new era have a strong sense of saving.51.5% people have made the choice of saving money, and the proportion has been soaring in recent years. In contrast, only 16.6% of the "post-90 s" children choose to save pocket money. Although "post-00" people’s awareness of deposit has increased, their awareness of donation has declined.This shows that with the development of the times, children’s self-awareness and individual awareness are constantly strengthened. How to help children establish a correct view of money and cultivate the values of "everyone for me and I for everyone" still needs further efforts.
Since the reform and opening up, children’s social environment has been actively improved and optimized, but there are still many problems, especially in children’s recreational life, which plays an important and special role in children’s growth. Science and technology are changing with each passing day, and policies should also keep up with the ever-changing reality.The mixed voice of appeals, cheers and controversies urges us to sum up past experience and study the current situation in order to have a better future.
The children’s development policy formulated by the national government is the policy and code of action to promote children’s development, which determines the direction of children’s development in a country.In the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children, the United Nations pointed out: "The happiness of children needs a higher level of policy action."
China government attaches great importance to children’s survival, health and development, pays close attention to the constantly developing actual situation and emerging new problems, improves children’s policies with the times, and formulates forward-looking national policies to promote the development of children’s cause. Through the actions of the government and society, the basic system and action system for protecting children’s rights have been established. From the education problems of hundreds of millions of children to myopia and internet addiction prevention, the state has propped up a huge "umbrella" for all aspects of children’s lives, protecting the seedlings of the motherland from growing sturdily.
Basic education has been fully popularized, but excessive training has also brought a heavy burden. The rapid development of the Internet has changed the traditional way of learning and entertainment, and contributed a large number of diverse cultural resources. However, like Pandora’s box, it has also caused many problems such as "Internet addiction" and "myopia rate". Education, diet, electronic equipment …All aspects of rapid development allow children to enjoy abundant material conditions that children have never had before, and also create conditions for them to fully release their potential, so that children can stand higher and see farther, but at the same time they are confined to a test paper, a screen and an unhealthy body.
In a blink of an eye, "post-90s" has become the backbone of the society, and "post-00" has gradually entered the threshold of adulthood, and the childhood of "post-10s" and "post-20s" continues. The times follow their own trajectory and rush to a more colorful future at a high speed. The "red" and "black" left on the way are all splashed with ink in children’s childhood. From the different childhood trajectories of "post-90s" to "post-00s", we can sum up the gratifying development trend, guide the future development of children, and even sum up the problems and hidden dangers, intervene and solve them as soon as possible, so as to better implement the principle of giving priority to children.
In order to give children a healthy and happy childhood, China has made many beneficial attempts, and children’s living standards have been greatly improved. We should also learn from setbacks, face problems squarely and try to solve them. There is still a long way to go …
Note: the age definition of "children"
Article 1 of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that a minor is anyone under the age of 18. Minors are children. The Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the Protection of Minors promulgated in 1991 defines the age of minors, that is, children, as 0-18 years old (excluding 18 years old). This time, we define the age of "children" as 0-17 (one year old), which is consistent with the international standards and the policy documents issued by the China government. In this article, we will mainly focus on school-age children aged 6-14.
Data source:
[1] http://www.stats.gov.cn/, National Bureau of Statistics
[2] China Press and Publication Research Institute "China National Reading Survey Report"
[3] National Physical Fitness Monitoring Center "National Physical Fitness Monitoring Bulletin"
[4]CNNIC Statistical Report on Internet Development in China (2002-2020)
[5] The Ministry of Youth Rights and Interests of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) and China Youth New Media Association jointly issued "The Status of Internet Use for Minors in 2020".
[6] The Institute of Journalism and Communication of China Academy of Social Sciences, the School of Journalism and Communication of China Academy of Social Sciences, and Social Science Literature Publishing House jointly published "Blue Book for Teenagers: Report on Internet Use of Minors in China (2021)".
[7] The "National Survey on Learning Stress of Primary and Secondary School Students" was released by the artificial intelligence education platform for primary and secondary schools.
[8] Announcement of the Ministry of Education on the results of the national survey on students’ physique and health in 2005
http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A17/moe_943/moe_947/200705/t20070522_80580.html
[9] Announcement of the Ministry of Education on the results of the 2010 national survey on students’ physique and health
http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A17/moe_943/moe_947/201108/t20110829_124202.html
[10] Wang Xiuping: "40 years of children’s development in China", China Social Sciences Press, 2020.
[11] Song Yanhui, Zhang Shengqin: "The Changing Trend of Internet Use of Minors (2009 ~ 2013)", Social Science Literature Publishing House, 2014.
[12] Zhang Xudong, Sun Hongyan, Zhao Xia: From "After 90" to "After 00": Investigation Report on Children’s Development in China, China Youth Research, 2017(2)
References:
People’s Daily reports: 70 years of educational reform and development is magnificent | Celebrating 70 years of achievements, 2019.
Team member: School of Journalism and Information Communication, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Xu Xinyan Li Ning Zhou Ji Zhao Xiangjing
Instructor: Xu Di, School of Journalism and Information Communication, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
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