Children were encouraged to spy on their parents during China's Cultural Revolution. It is ironical, therefore, that the Chongqing local legislature in China has passed a law that forbids parents from monitoring their wards' computers and mobile phones. The law has been justified in terms of protecting the privacy of children. But it goes against a fundamental assumption of the parent-child relationship, that parents should exercise some supervisory capacity over their children till they are adults. That's the reason, for example, that movies have ratings with some categories open to adults only, and others that children of a certain age can watch with parental approval. Little wonder then that even in China's controlled society 42 per cent of the respondents in an online survey conducted by a Chinese portal gave the new legislation a thumbs-down.
Children nowadays are extremely tech savvy, and can virtually lead a parallel life via platforms such as social networking websites. These platforms, though extremely productive when utilised in the proper manner, can lend themselves to exploitation and inappropriate exposure. As a result, children can fall prey to online stalkers and blackmailers, or come across unsuitable content such as pornography. In such a scenario, it makes good sense for parents to keep tabs on their children's online activities.
The Chongqing law creates a bizarre situation in which the state finds it perfectly natural to play Big Brother and censor content on the internet, but the local government will not allow parents to monitor what their children have access to. It's as if when the government wants to play parent to all its citizens, it doesn't want the real parents to get in the way. Such heavy-handed state intervention in the parent-child relationship isn't a good idea.
Keywords: China,Children,Laws.
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