(Ecns.cn) -- Some students hired advertising agencies to make them posters and name cards in an effort to be elected student cadres or student leaders; some offered to do home works for their classmates in exchange for votes; others would bribe schoolmates with free meals or chocolates, reported the Yangtze Evening Post (YEP).
The Shenyang Daily conducted a survey of several randomly-selected primary schools in Shenyang, a city in China's northeastern Liaoning province .Over 90% of the students surveyed said they would like to be elected student leaders.
Competitions over these popular posts have heated up. Innovative ways of winning out, ranging from bilingual speeches to canvassing, have emerged. Some underground ways of winning support from voters, such as bribery, have generated a heated discussion among education scholars.
"School is the epitome of society. The admiration for power and mighty positions will eventually affect campuses. It's undoubtedly worrisome," said Professor Zhou Xiaozheng of Remin University.
"Money politics are inevitable during the development of democracy for any nation," said Qiao Professor Qiao Xinsheng from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. "The key is transparency. Voters have the right to know about the process."
Campus: the battle field for power
The YEP quoted a student as saying that one of the student leaders gained votes by offering cakes to the class. Students would ask their parents for more PR funds.
For some big positions, the entire families may serve as their "think tanks." Their responsibilities may include making campaign posters, designing name cards, and sending gifts to teachers, each of which could cost hundreds of yuan.
Parents have mixed feelings about it.
"I encourage her to go for it. I told her to look at it as a chance to practice communication skills and to improve herself. Not just for the power itself," a father of a girl, who was running for student leader, told the Shenyang Daily.
Some parents would "bribe" the head teacher of the class to help their children win the positions. Teachers admitted they often receive direct requests or implications from the parents.
"Power struggles are corroding the soul of our young generation. Children learn to pursue power themselves by imitating daily behaviors of the adults. This rarely happened during our school life," said Professor Zhou.
"Our uneven distribution of educational resources is the ultimate cause of power worship in both society and schools. Student leaders are entitled to resource allocation. No wonder they are so keen to compete for positions," noted Professor Qiao.
Just like in real politics, "money issues aren't always evil and dirty unless they are kept in the dark and go wild without supervision," added Professor Qiao.
Food for thought for educators
Both parents and society are responsible for the situation.
"How children think of the concept of 'officials' is basically under their parents' influence," said Dr. Li Ran, an educational psychologist.
"The core reason in running for an 'official' position should be to serve teachers and classmates, as well as to practice organizational leadership. A respectable student leader must win true recognition from the class," added Dr. Li.
Now that the admiration for power has entered schools, our focus of attention should be shifted to building a supervisory regime in schools to check whether the elected fulfill their duties, according to Professor Qiao.
