Beijing, February 27 (Reporter Yingni) In recent years, family education has attracted more and more attention from all walks of life. The China Education 30 Forum and Wenxiang Lab collected data on the mental health of parents and children in nearly one million families, deeply analyzed the impact of the family nurturing environment on children's mental health, positive psychological quality and daily life behavior, and jointly compiled the "Blue Book of Family Education 2024: Report on China's Family Parenting Environment", which was officially published by China Publishing Group China Translation Publishing House.
Family Education Blue Book 2024: Report on China's Family Parenting Environment. Courtesy of Chinese Translation Press.
What is the nurturing environment like in Chinese families? The report points out that many parents are cognitively in line with modern educational concepts, but they are unable to keep up with their emotions and behaviors, showing "inconsistencies in knowledge and action". The data shows that at the cognitive level, 75% of parents agree that body language such as hugging expresses their love for their children, and 65% of parents agree that children should make their own decisions; At the emotional level, 80% of parents are anxious about their children's academic performance, and 60% of parents are always worried about their children's accidents. At the behavioral level, 45% of parents often interfere too much with what their children do.
Mom and dad, parent of boy and parent of girl, who is more anxious? The report provides the answer with data: anxiety is more prevalent among dads (dads: 70%, moms: 55%); Parents of boys were more anxious (64% of parents of boys and 55% of parents of girls). Overall, boys' fathers are the most anxious (76%) and the most common to interfere with their children's behavior (65%).
The report also shows that parents of junior high school students are the most anxious (64% in junior high school, 58% in other grades), have the most interfering behaviors (50% in junior high school, 43% in other grades), and have the lowest warmth in parent-child interaction.
The report points out that at the primary school level, family education lays the foundation for children's physical and mental health; At the junior high school stage, family education has the greatest impact on children's mental health and is the most critical period. By the upper secondary level, the protective role of family education has weakened significantly.
In the discussion session of the book launch, Professor Zhang Zhiyong, director of the National Education Survey Center of Beijing Normal University, a national high-end think tank, said that among the factors that promote education reform, the problems of home and school, family and educational philosophy have a great impact on the reform of the entire education system. He highly recognized the significance and value of the study of the family nurturing environment, and looked forward to giving the whole society an overall construction of "what a beautiful, ideal and desired family nurturing environment looks like" through the iteration and upgrading of the research, so that the society can understand how to do a good job in family education.
Expert seminar site. Courtesy of Chinese Translation Press.
Lu Qin, chief education expert and former editor-in-chief of China Children's Press and Publication Group, pointed out that today's family environment is facing several major conflicts, the first is the conflict of expectations, and excessive expectations bring hopelessness to children; The second is the conflict of protection, excessive protection brings about the child's incompetence; The third is the conflict of love, excessive spoiling brings the ruthlessness of children; The fourth is the conflict of communication, and too much interference brings helplessness to children. The family nurturing environment deserves the attention of the whole society, because the child is the seed, the family is the soil, and the quality of the soil directly affects the growth of the seed.
Hong Ming, deputy director of the Institute of Children and Adolescents of the China Youth Research Center, stressed that family education aims to create the best living conditions for children. As the times have evolved, both learning resources and learning tools have changed. Family education should create a good peer relationship for children. Parents are the mediators, value shapers, and rule-makers of children's conflicts, and parents should participate in their children's growth and life, which is education.
Xie Xiang, former vice president of China Youth Daily, admits that the anxiety shown by parents is precisely due to the lack of communication with their children. Parents are more active in family communication with their children, which has the effect of shifting thousands of pounds. Their communication is smooth, and the child's growth is smooth. She encouraged parents and children to have equal and warm exchanges through family letters, so that the temperature of family affection can run through the growth of children. (ENDS).