Rising concern over child molestation cases

Song Wenzhen, a counsel at the National Working Committee on Children and Women, which is responsible to the State Council, said, "Similar to safety lessons regarding fire escapes and traffic rules, such education needs repetition, as it's hard for children to master the skills and steps to cope through just one lecture.

"Systematic and scientific design of such classes to prevent sexual assault of children of different age groups is also important."

You Lina, a prosecutor who handles cases involving juveniles in Shanghai, said: "More efforts should be made in preventive education. Although knowing how to cope with such incidents afterward is also important for children, parents and society to best protect the child involved, this comes only as a remedy."

China Daily talked to 25 parents of children ages 3 to 12. Twenty of the parents said they had discussed the prevention of sexual assault with their children. From time to time, they remind them never to let others touch their private parts, to stay away from strangers who approach them, and to avoid being left alone with strangers.

However, Sun Xuemei, one of the founders of the Girls' Protection Program, said parents need more knowledge about how to educate their children. For example, minors should keep an eye on unusual behavior by anyone - not only strangers but also people they believe they know well.

"In this sense, anyone acting abnormally, such as touching children's private parts or letting children see or touch theirs, is dangerous," Sun said.

The Girls' Protection Program said nearly 320 sexual assault cases involving 750 minors were reported by media nationwide last year, and two-thirds of them were committed by people working with or near children, such as teachers, school bus drivers and security guards.