It's a man's world at camp for boys
Source: Xinhua |
August 10, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE motto is "We bring out the men in boys."
Parents suspecting their sons of a "lack of masculinity" are sending them to West Point Boys boot camp.
For a month during the summer, boys are tutored in a range of "manly" activities, such as taekwondo, ball games, chess and public debating, with a strict daily schedule and discipline designed to teach responsibility.
Founded in 2006, the camp has seen enrollment hit a record this year.
"We have already signed up 400 boys. That is the camp's upper limit," says manager Wan Guoying at the camp in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.
Wan attributes the popularity of the camp to the erosion of "masculinity" as ever more Chinese boys appear both physically and emotionally weak, he said.
One couple who enrolled their 15-year-old son complained that he lacked the "manly" traits of responsibility and the ability to endure hardship.
"He did poorly in school exams and became rebellious. We worry about his future and fear that he will be incompetent to inherit our family business," said one of his parents.
The idea of a masculinity crisis in China is gaining ground.
Sun Yunxiao, deputy director of the China Youth and Children Research Center and author of "Save the Boys," has claimed that China's boys are undergoing a crisis.
He says they have become physically less capable than previous generations, unable to accept their social responsibilities, and are mentally and emotionally inferior to girls.
Sun's argument is echoed by educators. Yang Jianhua, vice president of Zhejiang Sociological Society, says boys are falling behind in academic achievement and graduating from high school at lower rates than girls.
But the idea has its detractors, including sociologist and sexologist Li Yinhe, of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who dismisses the "boy crisis" as a fallacy.
For thousands of years, she said, women were seen as lesser beings and expected to be mild and submissive.
"Instead of seeing our society as in the midst of a boy crisis, I would like to say that China is witnessing an epoch of girl empowerment."
Parents suspecting their sons of a "lack of masculinity" are sending them to West Point Boys boot camp.
For a month during the summer, boys are tutored in a range of "manly" activities, such as taekwondo, ball games, chess and public debating, with a strict daily schedule and discipline designed to teach responsibility.
Founded in 2006, the camp has seen enrollment hit a record this year.
"We have already signed up 400 boys. That is the camp's upper limit," says manager Wan Guoying at the camp in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.
Wan attributes the popularity of the camp to the erosion of "masculinity" as ever more Chinese boys appear both physically and emotionally weak, he said.
One couple who enrolled their 15-year-old son complained that he lacked the "manly" traits of responsibility and the ability to endure hardship.
"He did poorly in school exams and became rebellious. We worry about his future and fear that he will be incompetent to inherit our family business," said one of his parents.
The idea of a masculinity crisis in China is gaining ground.
Sun Yunxiao, deputy director of the China Youth and Children Research Center and author of "Save the Boys," has claimed that China's boys are undergoing a crisis.
He says they have become physically less capable than previous generations, unable to accept their social responsibilities, and are mentally and emotionally inferior to girls.
Sun's argument is echoed by educators. Yang Jianhua, vice president of Zhejiang Sociological Society, says boys are falling behind in academic achievement and graduating from high school at lower rates than girls.
But the idea has its detractors, including sociologist and sexologist Li Yinhe, of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who dismisses the "boy crisis" as a fallacy.
For thousands of years, she said, women were seen as lesser beings and expected to be mild and submissive.
"Instead of seeing our society as in the midst of a boy crisis, I would like to say that China is witnessing an epoch of girl empowerment."
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