Amendments in line with social conditions THE Shanghai Education Commission has updated its conduct code for the city's more than 1 million primary and secondary school students for the first time in 22 years.

New amendments such as "abstemiously surfing Internet" and "keep away from drugs" were cited by officials to be in line with changes in social conditions.

"As the current code was drafted in 1981, many of the current requirements lag far behind social development in the modern era," said Yu Lihui, a commission official.

With 10 items listed, the code acts as a general guideline for the expected behavior of students.

Other new amendments include "raising awareness of environment protection" and "helping to promote mutual understanding with foreign friends."

As going online has become a common daily activity of most students, computer-related regulations have been addressed to curb problems such as surfing pornographic Websites or carelessly indulging in online chatting, Yu said.

While the number of crimes committed by local youth is still relatively low - about 1,000 per year on average - a rising trend in juvenile delinquency has aroused the education authority's attention.

They advised students to "keep away from those poisons in advance."

Some parents and students, however, doubted whether the conduct code could really work.

"When you start the first semester in Grade 1, every student is given a brochure on the conduct code. But nobody really cares. I didn't even read through it," said a local secondary student.

Some parents said the code was just an impractical moral standard which couldn't efficiently prevent problems, such as limiting students' Internet addiction.

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