Guan Ying, a researcher with the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, has found in her study that poor grades and other unpleasant experiences at school are for many minor offenders a starting point on the road toward delinquency.

    In a study that tracked more than 2,000 juvenile delinquents across China, Guan found 74.2 percent of the young offenders had quit primary or junior high school before they became involved in various crimes.

    Nearly 93 percent of juvenile delinquents in cities used to play truant when they were at school, according to Guan. "Some 40 percent of the young offenders said they cut school because they hated schoolwork and another 27.1 percent said the pressure was unbearable at school," she said.

    As grades are often an important yardstick in judging a student's performance and overall quality at Chinese schools, those with poor grades tend to feel they are inferior and isolated.

    "While most juvenile delinquents admit they did not do well at school, nearly 80 percent of them never, or very rarely, get any positive comment from their teachers and nearly 41 percent of themwere looked down upon by their classmates," said Guan.

    These children, who are often regarded as outcasts at school, are also constantly reproached and punished at home, which discourages them even more from going back to school, she added.

    Children who are not doing well at school need friendship and other spiritual support to relieve their pressure, according to Guan. "Driven by a thirst for friendship, many youngsters gather in gangs and stand firmly with each other -- even in committing crimes," she said.

    In fact, Guan said many young offenders start to have early signs of moral aberrance at junior high school -- particularly at 14, when they are reaching puberty.

    "Children aged between 13 and 15 are often physically mature but psychologically underdeveloped. They tend to face a lot of contradictions between themselves and the adult world, between their ideals and reality and between their specific needs and moral and legal restrictions," Guan said.

    Parents and teachers, therefore, should be on guard against early signs of moral aberrance in the youngsters in order to lead them back to the normal track at the earliest time possible.

    Inadequate home education was found to be a major cause for many juvenile delinquent cases, according to Guan's study.

    While most parents stress children's moral standards more than anything else in their home discipline, many young offenders' families often give more priority to their children's grades.

    "Proper ideological guidance from teachers and parents could have kept many minor offenders from committing crimes," said Guan.

    On the other hand, easy access to karaoke bars, cyber cafes and violent or obscene videos and publications is also undermining themoral well-being of many youngsters, says the expert.

    Young offenders' access to these improper entertainment facilities is an average 50 percent higher than ordinary city children with no offenses, Guan has found in her study.

    Her find echoes that of an earlier survey conducted in 15 Chinese localities, which revealed that crimes committed by minorsunder the influence of "virtual reality" had risen to 25.1 percentof all crimes committed by juveniles between January and March 2003, as against 4.1 percent reported in 2000.

    Despite government crackdowns on illegal Internet cafes and games rooms, going online and indulging in unhealthy material havebecome an ever more important factor leading to juvenile delinquency in China, says senior lawmaker Gu Xiulian.

    Juvenile delinquency has remained a critical issue in China andfigures provided by the Supreme People's Procuratorate show that minor suspects made up 9.1 percent of all suspects arrested nationwide in 2003.

    This was a rise from the 6.7 percent reported in 2000, said SunQian, a deputy procurator-general, at a recent meeting on the prevention of juvenile delinquency and betterment of public security work around schools.

    "Most young offenders are involved in thefts, robberies, kidnapping, blackmailing and drug addiction and trafficking -- many cases involve use of violence and some even involve rape and murder," said Bai Jingfu, vice minister of public security.

    Earlier this year, China made public a package of proposals on raising the ideological and moral standards of the country's 367 million young people under 18, including more publicity campaigns,educational reform and investment in projects for young people.

    According to the document issued by the Chinese Communist PartyCentral Committee and the State Council, China will launch publicity campaigns to teach primary and middle school students tovalue life, say no to drugs, advocate sciences and civilization, and oppose superstition.

    It promises efforts to correct and help those minors with a poor record of conduct, and vows to reform curriculum, textbooks and teaching methods in a bid to lessen the academic burden of primary and middle school students, while stepping up efforts to improve ideological and moral construction of those students, their spirit of innovation and capacity to practice.

    In another development, the Chinese Government has built 130 centers for homeless children nationwide, providing them with basic necessities, medical services and education to protect theirlegitimate rights and interests and minimize minor delinquency within this special group of children.

    Starting from this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will join hands with lawmakers to draft a special law to protect the country's 150,000 homeless children -- including 105,000 boys and 45,000 girls, mostly between 10 and 15.

    Most of these children have had little schooling and are makinga living as beggars or junkman, said Li Liguo, vice minister of civil affairs.