A dozen years ago, Chinese teenagers were besieged in a nation-wide wave to learn from a late juvenile hero, Lai Ning (1974-1988). The native of the southwestern province of Sichuan died trying to put out a forest fire when he was only 14 years old.
In November 1988, Lai was named a 'revolutionary martyr' and held up as an example for other teenagers to follow.
However, in today's China, Lai has been replaced by stylish pop stars from Taiwan or Hong Kong, such as Jay Chou and S.H.E (A three-member pop music group comprised of Taiwanese native Selina Ren, Hebe Tian and Ella Chen), in teenagers minds, and people are struggling to find an answer to whether it's right or not.
Terms in China's Conduct Code of Pupils, such as 'Do not be scared to fight' and 'Try to save others in danger' have been replaced by 'Reporting the danger to others' and 'Learning to protect oneself.'
What's more, China's Ministry of Education discourages teenage heroism in the Measures for Primary School, Middle School and Kindergartens on safety management, which came to effect September 1, saying schools are not allowed to deploy under-age students for emergency rescue work.
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