In recent weeks, a number of Chinese secondary schools have introduced new rules aimed at curbing young love. On the campus of a secondary school in Suiping, Henan province, students of the opposite sex must always maintain a certain distance. In addition, boys and girls are not allowed to have a meal in pairs at school. Repeat offenders risk expulsion.
Students said they would be expelled from school for scoring 25 points from of a list of 50 infringements, including a ban on male and female students walking together.
One student revealed, as Sina reports, “our parents received a letter from school during the holiday, on which there is a list of 50 items for which we can be scored negatively. If there is physical contact between male and female students, or if male and female students spend too much time together (or even between the same gender), it is considered as a young love affair. We can have good friends from the same gender, but we are not allowed to hold hands or anything like that, because holding hands is considered to be a display of young love. There is a corridor in the middle of the student cafeteria, which is divided into two separate sections for boys and girls.”
In response, the staff of the school’s Department of Political Science and Education stated the measures are to help students to focus on academics.