Headline December 23, 2018/ '' 'STRONGER! -CHINA'S- STUDENTS?' ''

'' 'STRONGER! -CHINA'S- STUDENTS?' ''

CHINA'S preoccupation with strong men has taken on a political dimension, feeding concerns about whether Chinese males are in trouble..................

TANG HSIYAN runs his school with a very clear vision in mind : He will train boys to be men.

There are many ways to be a man, of course, but the broad-shouldered Mr. Tang has a particular kind of man in mind. This man plays sports. This man conquers challenges like:

Hussain, Shahzaib, Salar, Vishnu, Bilal, Haider, Ali, Zaeem, Sannan, Reza, Ghazi, and the students of the world.

''We will teach the children to play golf, go sailing and be equestrians,'' said Mr. Tang, 39, ''but we never cultivate sissies''.

Mr. Tang founded the Real Boys Club, which stands at the forefront of a deep conversation in China about what it means to be a man.

It's a debate that has been stirred by worries about military effectiveness, an embrace of traditional culture and roles, disappointing academic performance among boys and echoes of the defunct one-child policy.

To the Beijing club's thinking, the alternative for the boys, ages 7 to 12, is life in a society where androgynous pop idols, overprotective mothers and mostly female teachers would turn them into effeminate crybabies.

On one recent Sunday afternoon, 17 boys from the Real Boys Club blocked, sprinted and tackled one another as they learned about American Football. Wearing a red-hooded sweatshirt Mr. Tang led the boys in a call-and-response chant.

''Who's the best?'' he shouted.
''I'm the best!'' they shouted back.
'Who's the strongest?'
''I'm the strongest!''
''Who are you?''
''Real Men''.

Arguably, the club is intended to address a problem that China does not have. Chinese men still dominate the top echelons of politics and business. Institutional sexism is widespread.

Wealth is concentrated in the hands of men. Women complain of sexual harassment within public transport, universities and companies.

But China's preoccupation with strong men  has taken on political dimension, feeding concerns about whether young Chinese males are in trouble.

State media has said, video games, and lack of exercise have made many young men ill-suited for the military. 'Erasing the gender characteristics of a man who is not afraid of death and hardship,'' Peng Xianhui, a sexology professor of Central China Norrmal University, said, is tantamount to ''a country's suicide''.

''It is still necessary for a boy to be raised as a boy and girl to be raised as a girl,'' Mr. Peng said in a telephone interview. ''They should not be raised based on the opposite gender.''

Mr. Tang a former football coach and teacher, said the idea for starting his club came from his discussions with parents who were worried about their sons falling behind in school.

According to a 2014 survey of 20,000 Chinese primary school students and their parents in four provinces, almost two-thirds of the boys surveyed performed poorly academically, compared with less than one-third of girls.

The study was conducted by the China Academy of Educational Sciences, a research institution affiliated with China's Education Ministry.

Mr. Tang was also inspired by 2006 trip to Oakland, Calif, where he saw American parents teach their boys ''to overcome challenges and dangers'' through physical training.

In China, by contrast, many parents try to protect their sons, a cultural bias that has been magnified by the one-child policy. The survey by the China Academy of Educational Sciences found that  ''whether it was in life or in school, parents had a tendency to spoil boys.

More than 2,000 boys have enrolled in the Real Boys Club, according to Mr. Tang.

One mother, Sun Yi, decided to enroll her 8-year old son - her only child - because she believed it would teach him teamwork. She paid about $2,000 for a semester's worth of classes.

The Honor and Serving of the latest Global Operational Research on Students and the World they face, continues. The World Students Society thanks authors and researchers Sui-Lee Wee,  Elsie Chen and Zoe Mou 
With respectful dedication to the Grandparents, Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of China and then the world.

See Ya all prepare for Great Global Elections and ''register'' on :
wssciw.blogspot.com - The World Students Society and................ Twitter-!E-WOW! - the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Performance Paramount '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless