Students urged to draw a line with violence

HONG KONG - Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers on Saturday urged students to draw a line against illegal and violent acts.

The statement issued by the federation came a day after Hong Kong police said that about 30 percent of all 1,596 arrests in connection to the anti-government protests since June 9 were students.

Since Sept 1, when the new school year began, 207 students have been arrested. They made up 38 percent of the total arrests. The proportion of student arrests in that period showed a 13 percentage points increase from that between June 9 and August 31.

Activists have said they would escalate their actions in protests leading up to National Day on October 1. This has raised the concern of the HKFEW about the safety of those students planning to take part in the protests or other unlawful activities.

"The federation strongly appeal to students to refrain from participating in these activities," the HJKFEW statement says.

In addition, the HKFEW urged parents to pay close attention to their children and persuade them to make their demands in a rational and peaceful way.