Little ones say 'we do' at group wedding
By Liang Yiwen |
January 15, 2013, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MORE than 100 preschoolers have taken part in a group "wedding ceremony" at a kindergarten in Zhengzhou, capital city of central China's Henan Province.
Children dressed up in suits and wedding gowns to "get married" as parents looked on last Friday, the Zhengzhou Evening News reported yesterday.
The "grooms" and "brides," hand in hand, walked through a flower gate to the melody of the Wedding March.
Teachers asked the children whether they would take care of their "spouses" and protect them from bullies, according to the newspaper.
"Why do you want to marry him (or her)?" teachers asked.
"Because I love him (or her)," the children replied.
The "grooms" knelt to put rings on the fingers of their "brides" and after the ceremony, the "newlyweds" hugged and some of them even kissed.
The kindergarten principal, surnamed Li, told the newspaper that the mock ceremony would help children develop a strong sense of responsibility and give them more confidence.
Li said the children started to be aware of love and marriage between the ages of three and six years.
Some boys will say "I like you" to girls, while some girls will share candies with boys, and some children even talk about getting married.
Li said it was a good time for marriage education and a good opportunity to teach children about the roles of men and women, such as that men can be dads, and women can be moms, the newspaper reported.
The mock wedding was "supported" by parents who told the newspaper they believed the experience was "good for their children's development."
One parent, surnamed Liu, said this type of education was a good trial for real life.
The news aroused heated debated online, with many people saying they couldn't understand the purpose of a wedding ceremony for the children.
Qian Wenzhong, a history professor of Fudan University in Shanghai, said on his microblog that it was "crazy" for the kindergarten to hold such an event.
A netizen calling herself Catlydia wrote on her microblog: "Children can only learn from the experience that marriage is just a game."
Children dressed up in suits and wedding gowns to "get married" as parents looked on last Friday, the Zhengzhou Evening News reported yesterday.
The "grooms" and "brides," hand in hand, walked through a flower gate to the melody of the Wedding March.
Teachers asked the children whether they would take care of their "spouses" and protect them from bullies, according to the newspaper.
"Why do you want to marry him (or her)?" teachers asked.
"Because I love him (or her)," the children replied.
The "grooms" knelt to put rings on the fingers of their "brides" and after the ceremony, the "newlyweds" hugged and some of them even kissed.
The kindergarten principal, surnamed Li, told the newspaper that the mock ceremony would help children develop a strong sense of responsibility and give them more confidence.
Li said the children started to be aware of love and marriage between the ages of three and six years.
Some boys will say "I like you" to girls, while some girls will share candies with boys, and some children even talk about getting married.
Li said it was a good time for marriage education and a good opportunity to teach children about the roles of men and women, such as that men can be dads, and women can be moms, the newspaper reported.
The mock wedding was "supported" by parents who told the newspaper they believed the experience was "good for their children's development."
One parent, surnamed Liu, said this type of education was a good trial for real life.
The news aroused heated debated online, with many people saying they couldn't understand the purpose of a wedding ceremony for the children.
Qian Wenzhong, a history professor of Fudan University in Shanghai, said on his microblog that it was "crazy" for the kindergarten to hold such an event.
A netizen calling herself Catlydia wrote on her microblog: "Children can only learn from the experience that marriage is just a game."
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