Mothers' allowance rules for college students spark debate online

Two Chinese mothers have sparked a debate on social media after they set strict rules for their college freshmen children's allowances, including rewards for check-ins and perfect attendance.

A student surnamed Xun in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, shared a screen grab on social media recently.

He said his mother would send him 900 yuan ($120) at the start of the month, and another 10 yuan every day if he checked in at the university library via short video three times a day. He would receive an extra 300 yuan if he checked in every day for the entire month, and an extra 500 yuan if he started dating.

However, when Xun sent a five-second video at the library's entrance on his first school day, his mother said she would deduct half of the money for checking in "too late" and not showing his face.

Another girl said her mother said she would give her daughter 10 yuan every day if she contacted her, and a "full-attendance" reward of 300 yuan. However, instead of a reward for dating, she said she would give her daughter 500 yuan every month for not dating.

Many netizens joked that the mothers were treating their children like employees, with "basic", "performance-based" and "full attendance" salaries.

Some also believed that the mothers were micromanaging too much, as their children are already college students. "Library in the morning, afternoon and evening. How can he have time to classes, or date girls," said one online comment.

Xun told the Shanghai Morning Post that although he had complaints about the strict rules, he would obey them. "My mother probably wanted to train my skills talking with the opposite sex," he said.