China Stresses Zero Tolerance for School Bullying, Sexual Harassment

China’s education authority has emphasized protecting minors against bullying and sexual abuse in a new guideline released Tuesday, providing further details on information included in the country’s landmark revised law.

Officials from the Ministry of Education announced the guideline Tuesday — also Children’s Day in China and the same day the country’s revised Law on the Protection of Minors went into effect. The guideline is said to be an expansion of the law and clearly defines what constitutes bullying, as well as concrete steps educators can take to prevent it.

The new guideline, which will go into effect in September, classifies physical harassment, excluding peers with malicious intent, and online defamation, among others, as forms of bullying.

“One of the focuses of the amended Law on the Protection of Minors issued last October is on protection in schools,” said Deng Chuanhuai, head of the department of policies and regulations under the Ministry of Education. “There is a need for us to provide a guideline on protection in schools and help thoroughly realize the demands of upper-level legislation.”

China’s amendment to the Law on the Protection of Minors was passed in October of last year. It added 60 new amendments for protecting children, including mechanisms for handling school bullying, sexual abuse, and online exploitation.

Bullying in schools has been a cause of concern for many in recent years, with…

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