BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A new survey shows that Chinese parents are anxious about their children's education, rating the level of anxiety at 67 on a 100-point scale.
The survey was released by China's online education platform SmartStudy.com and portal website Sina.com. It was based on answers from 3,205 respondents from Aug. 1 to 15 through online questionnaires.
The top three factors causing anxiety in parents are school performance, campus safety and mobile phone addiction.
According to the survey, 68 percent of parents felt "very anxious" and "anxious" about their children's education, while only 6 percent were "not anxious." They are anxious most when their children are in kindergarten and primary school.
More than 44 percent of parents believe learning beyond textbooks is very necessary, and 67 percent agree that taking training classes after school is better for a child's learning path. Only 9 percent disagree.
Nearly half of the respondents spend 40 percent of their money on their children's education, while one-third think that education expenses should not exceed 20 percent of the household income.
The survey also found that 70 percent of parents worry about campus safety after recent cases of bullying and child abuse were exposed in schools and kindergartens across China.
Anxiety decreases when children enter high schools.
About 83 percent of Chinese parents are worried that their children will become addicted to mobile phones, especially when their children are over the age of 12.
"The main reason for parents' anxiety is that they are not strong enough to deal with pressure and easily lose control of their emotions. Also, anxious parents seldom encourage children, which will make children lose their self-confidence," said psychologist Zhang Yijun.
She suggested that parents should help their children love learning and be optimistic when facing frustrations in life.
Gao Yan, a chief researcher at Smart Study, said parents should learn to accept their children's imperfections, respect their ideas and appreciate the efforts their children make.
