Society

Students lash out at dummies to vent emotions

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-06-07 16:56

In order to help its students improve their mental capacity to deal with stress, Hongtang High School in Ningbo city, in East China's Zhejiang province, has introduced a psychological venting room, Zhejiang Daily reported on Tuesday.

If the students feel depressed, they can kick the dummies in the venting room to release their pent-up emotions.

Besides the venting room, the school has also set up a sand-play room, a music relaxing room, and a physical and mental feedback training room to improve the mental health of students.

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But according to a guidance counselor at the school, the venting room is most popular with students.

The boys are more likely to beat the dummies and the girls are more like to cry in the venting room, the counselor added.

To protect the students' privacy, only two students are allowed into the room at the same time.

However, the venting room has raised concerns among some parents who worry it may encourage violent tendencies and disrespectfulness towards teachers.

A psychology expert with PLA Nanjing Institute of Politics argued that the venting room is simply a kind of psychoanalytic therapy and if the pent-up emotions are responsibly vent, they will not develop into more serious mental illnesses, which may threaten the sufferers and others.

But the Zhejiang Daily report concluded that the limited emotional maturity of many secondary school students meant dealing with their discontents and pressures by simply chatting may be a better way for a more harmonious relationship between teachers and students.