From Chinese Press

Wrong assessment of grads

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-18 07:46

At a recent education forum at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, some scholars criticized college students for carrying soft toys at the graduation ceremony. The scholars said today's students lacked the profound thinking and sense of obligation seen among their enlightened predecessors a century ago. But the scholars seem to have misread the students' attachment to toys, says an article on eastday.com. Excerpts:

Even if students carrying soft toys to their graduation ceremony (some of who made fun of those who didn't) are to be judged, it would be wrong to say their behavior proves that their intelligence quotient and social adaptability levels are as good or bad as that of children.

It is not fair to compare today's students with those during the May 4th Movement in 1919. Those were times when every Chinese citizen's fate was tied to that of the country, and the "the rise and fall of the country was everybody's business".

Today, students know that the country's future is safe, and they only have to comply with and pass certain examinations to get their diplomas and certificates, which will not only guarantee them livelihood, but also help them excel in society.

True, some of them may not have paid enough attention to social etiquettes. But then they know, as does the rest of society, that those are not compulsory to get a good job. And that does not necessarily mean today's students lack human qualities and rational thinking.

Some scholars and academics have made it a habit to criticize youths who do not follow "established" norms. Thus, it is important that scholars and youths both should be more open to views that do not necessarily fit their standards but may not be wrong either.

(China Daily 05/18/2011 page9)