CHINACHINAA survey of over 2,100 primary school children aged 9-12 found that 73% are physically punished by their parents, and this was associated with psychosomatic symptoms such as headache and abdominal pain.
(Hesketh, T. et al, 2010, “Stress and psychosomatic symptoms in Chinese school children: cross-sectional survey”, Archives of Disease in Childhood, vol. 95 (2), pp. 136-140)
In a survey of more than 100 children aged 6-15 and 126 parents, carried out by the NGO Against Child Abuse, 58% of parents admitted to smacking or caning their children in the previous 12 months. Almost half (47%) of children who had been physically punished said it had hurt them badly and a third thought it had damaged their relationship with their parents.
(Reported in Earth Times, 4 May 2010)
A retrospective survey of nearly 1,000 university students in China and England, carried out beween 2001 and 2004, looked at their experiences of parental discipline and their attitudes towards it. Of the Chinese students, 60% of boys and 50% of girls reported being hit by their parents as children; beating with a stick, rod or branch was reported by 37% of boys and 36% of girls. Fathers were more likely to be the parent using physical punishment than mothers. Of those who had been physically punished, 42% of boys and 41% of girls said they were punished for being “disobedient”, 33% of boys and 25% of girls for being “naughty”, 25% of boys and 18% of girls for having poor results at school, and 25% of boys and 45% of girls for being “wilful”.
(Hester, M. et al, 2009, “Girls’ and boys’ experiences and perceptions of parental discipline and punishment while growing up in China and England”, Child Abuse Review, vol. 18, pp. 401-413)
In a pilot questionnaire survey in 2004 of 528 students from a college and a technical secondary school in Hebie province, 57.6% of students reported having received corporal punishment on at least one occasion. A similar number (53.4%) reported receiving “non-contact” corporal punishment by teachers when aged below 16 years, including running, standing, kneeling etc; 16.1% reported hitting/kicking/pushing very hard with open hands or another part of the body; 10.2% reported beating with an object; and 0.2% reported being locked in a cupboard or tied with a rope. No significant correlation was found between corporal punishment and residence (rural or non-rural), parental education or number of children in the family.
(Jing-qi, C., Chun-mei, W., Dunne, M.P., Yu-xia, M., Bo, C. Yi-huai, L. & Ya-jie, 2006, “A retrospective survey of childhood corporal punishment by school teachers in students”, Chinese Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 44 (1))