Male and female students are required to dine separately at a high school in Shenmu County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Photo/Chinese Business View)
(ECNS) -- A high school in Shenmu County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province has ordered male and female students to dine separately to prevent puppy love.
Students who disobey the rule will be harshly criticized by teachers, local newspaper Chinese Business View reports.
The regulation has been enforced for months and the school recently put eye-catching posters in the dinning room to further warn students from mixed sitting.
A student said the rule is totally unnecessary since talking to someone from the opposite sex can be about studies too.
But Qiao Zhenyi, headmaster of the school, said it insists on the rule because improper behavior "can have a bad influence on other students and result in an early relationship."
Qiao added that the rule is welcomed by parents and also proves effective to eradicate "uncivilized manners".
Wang Guirong, a counseling psychologist at a local hospital, said it's normal for teenagers to be interested in a relationship and too much control from the school can only cause problems and affect academic performance.
