A couple of parents in Sichuan Province sent their college undergraduate son to a construction site to do manual labor during this winter vacation in an attempt to let the young man know "what hardship is".

The boy, Wang Li by name, has toiled at the work site for two weeks, using a shovel to load sand into wagons and carrying mortar with a shoulder pole. The strenuous labor has led to aching arms, shoulders and waist and blistered hands. And he ate coarse meals like the migrant workers from the countryside.

Wang wrote in his blog that the experience has given him a taste of drudgery and helped him develop confidence in his capabilities. "Since I could endure such heavy work, I will be able to meet more challenges in the future," the young man said.

Wang's parents are not alone. Many parents in cities are sending their children to manual labor sites, martial art schools or military camps to toughen their wills and help them develop a sense of discipline, according to media reports.

The news is gratifying. While most families pamper their kids excessively, these far-sighted parents have realized the importance of something neglected by Chinese parents for years.

In the past few decades, Chinese parents were probably the most indulgent toward their children among all the world's parents. The greatly improved living standards, the memory of their own impoverished childhoods and the country's one-child policy caused parents to indulge their kids.

As a result, children were spoiled to different extents. Though no authoritative statistics are available, the general impression is that today's children, including those who have reached their 20s, are mostly self-centered. They are accustomed to being served by their parents (and grandparents) and never do household chores.

To make things worse, parents place high hopes on their children's academic education and force them to concentrate on school learning. While making every aspect of life comfortable for the kids, they cram every minute of the kids' out-of-school time with extracurricula exercises and skills ranging from calligraphy and painting to piano lessons and weiqi (go) competition.

With the joint impacts of material comfort and study pressure, children tended to yearn for hedonistic enjoyment and shun hardship.

Children who have grown up under these circumstances are vulnerable to grim social realities after leaving the warmth of their parents' caring wings. Nowadays, college graduates complain about the difficulty of finding jobs. In fact, the problem is not the shortage of jobs but their concepts of work. They mostly eye office jobs in major cities. Few of them would take a job in underdeveloped areas, where business opportunities abound.

It should be admitted that college graduates in the past few decades were luckier than their contemporary peers. Those were the golden years when China's major cities developed rapidly generating abundant employment opportunities.

Now it is unrealistic to dream about squeezing into such cities as Beijing and Shanghai. Frankly, white collar labor markets in these areas are almost saturated. Today's young people should have the courage to go to less developed areas to pursue careers. They will face difficulties and hardships, but if they are mentally and physically prepared, they will succeed. They have no alternative.

That is why people like Wang Li's parents are far-sighted.

(China Daily 02/07/2007 page10)