... issues and tissues with a touch of the spicy from the spirit hag ...
china defines 'real love' in its' curriculum
Published on September 5, 2004 By mignuna In Personal Relationships

Schools in Shanghai, China, have taken a novel approach to an age old problem by making teachings in ‘real love’ and ‘romance’ a part of the official school curriculum.

Believed to concerned with the effects of the internet on the modern morality, China has decided to arm its' next generation of young adults with the facts about ‘real and lasting love’ as opposed to what they term the 'internet chatroom variety' of love.

Professor Fan Shougang, editor of the new textbook, has stated that he hoped the new studies would ‘help guide students through puberty smoothly’. In particular, the Chinese seem concerned with the exposure of students to ‘news and information on love’ via the internet, although no specific reference is made to internet porn.

Included in the programme are love-thematic stories and poems by authors Chinese and foreign, in a both ancient and contemporary vein. These have been added to ‘middle school’ (age 7-11) textbooks via a special unit titled 'Love Is Like A Song', which Chinese educators are calling 'an unprecedented endeavor'.

Trial courses have already been held for 15-year-olds at schools across Shanghai, and teacher Professor Gao stated that "although tutoring proceeded smoothly, the class fell into a long silence when it was asked to comment on 'puberty love' and 'whether internet love is real'".

"Teaching the new unit is quite a challenge for me owing to the difficulty of getting to the point" said professor Gao. (According to Professor Shougang, in Chinese society, “love, both spiritual and physical, remains a traditional taboo and a topic seldom touched on in the Chinese curriculum").

"Supporters have thanked the editors for delivering messages that they themselves wanted to deliver but were too embarrassed to” Professor Gao added. (Although detractors have claimed that this information is 'too much, too soon' for pre-teen aged children, the program has generally also received positive support from parents).

China is also currently working with its’ top two internet search engines to crack down on internet porn by restricting the use of related keywords. China commenced its’ crackdown on porn sites in July this year, and closed 700 Web sites in the first 10 days of the campaign alone.


Further reading: Link




Comments
on Sep 05, 2004
Love is love, regardless of where it begins. I'm a firm believer in that the emotion as such is capable of being born regardless of where the people meet. I've known people who have fallen in love online before they ever met and are still together after having met and are quite happy. Some of them even got married. As long as two people are honest with each other and their intentions are sincere...chat room love is still just as genuine.
on Sep 05, 2004

do fan shougang & fans flame love that fans to flame in feng shui'd internet chatrooms? 

on Sep 06, 2004
Many of my friends could really do with reading such a book. Maybe one updated for the more mature audience though. There is definitely a difference between infatuation, lust, and love. Adding further details on relationships and developing relationship beyond that intial dating front would also be extremely useful. So many people I know, including some married ones sadly, really do not know enough about human emotions and relationships. And so many end up constantly unhappy because of it. It is the sort of information that everyone should be aware of, because when you're 'in love' your head has no ability to analyse.

Paul.
on Sep 06, 2004
I'm a firm believer in that the emotion as such is capable of being born regardless of where the people meet. I've known people who have fallen in love online before they ever met and are still together after having met and are quite happy.


macky, i did find it very interesting that the chinse govt chose to differentiate between the two 'types' of love. i am certain it had more to do with kids seeing porn on the net than china are letting on.

do fan shougang & fans flame love that fans to flame in feng shui'd internet chatrooms?


kingbee, you have excelled yourself !. *falls off chair laughing*

is definitely a difference between infatuation, lust, and love.


i thoroughly agree, paul.

So many people I know, including some married ones sadly, really do not know enough about human emotions and relationships


i think that younger fathers in particular can have trouble knowing what is expected of them, paul, and i agree that this would be a good start.

And so many end up constantly unhappy because of it. It is the sort of information that everyone should be aware of, because when you're 'in love' your head has no ability to analyse


exactly !. oh, the insanity we call love


thanks for the comments.

vanessa/mig XX