In my column last week, I criticised the overindulgent care Chinese parents lavish on their kids as typically demonstrated in the national examination for college entrance.

The observation triggered enthusiastic discussions among readers. Some wrote in defence of the parents, saying that hard-working kids deserve the dispensation of having naps in nearby hotel rooms in between exams. Others said we should put the blame on our education system rather than on the kids.

I agree that adults rather than the kids are to blame for the problems in our education system, but I do think that providing a rest place in hotels and ordering aircraft to change flight routes are not necessary to help students pass exams.

My argument is simple: students 10 or 20 years ago did not fail exams because they lacked a nap in a hotel or a taxi ride or heard the humming of a passing plane.

Antagonists may refute this by stating that times have changed, and saying why should we not provide the kids with comforts we can afford?

It is not wrong to upgrade the convenience we give to our children, for instance, computers and mobile phones, for they help improve their study and broaden their horizons. But excessive ease and comfort may erode youngsters' will to endure hardships.

The present generation of teenagers and youths in their twenties have been growing up under the cover of their parents' brooding wings. In the early years of their schooling, their parents escorted them to and from the school. When they enrolled at university, their parents accompanied them to the school, completed all the registration formalities for them and cleaned the dormitory, made the bed and put up mosquito net for them. There have been many reports that college students mailed their dirty clothes home thousands of miles away every month and their mothers then sent them back clean.

In recent years, college graduates have found it hard to land jobs. Many choose to stay at home relying on their parents. A survey conducted by the China Ageing Study Centre indicates that more than 30 per cent of grown-up children depend on their parents for part or all of their living expenses. Among these young people, 50 per cent were college graduates who failed to find a job, or quit a job because "the work was too tiring."

These young people exist in Western countries too, where they are called NEET (not in education, employment or training).

In fact, there are job opportunities for college graduates. But most hope to stay in major metropolises, snubbing employers from rural or hinterland areas.

In a job fair held for college graduates recently in Zhejiang Province, 14,000 job vacancies remained unoccupied, because none of them wanted to work in private enterprises in small cities. Actually, these companies were all located in economically developed areas, such as Jinhua and Huzhou.

These college graduates would rather wait for an "ideal job" than take a job in a grass-roots enterprise to start their career.

A successful career starts from solid work. No matter that the job may appear humble at first, a person with endeavouring spirit, creative thinking and a habit of hard learning will eventually achieve success.

The Chinese nation lagged behind Western countries in development in the 19th century and part of the 20th century. It was the spirit of endeavour despite hardships that enabled several generations of Chinese to catch up with the pace of global modernization. Our future will be worrisome if the new generation loses such a spirit.

Fortunately, NEETs account for only a small fraction of the young generation. But the trend merits serious attention.

Email: liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/21/2006 page4)