总理敦促避免留守儿童悲剧

 　　Following the incident, several officials responsible have been sacked or suspended.

　　Local police found a suicide note left by the eldest¹ of the four siblings², a boy, saying he had been thinking of death for many years.

　　The four children, one older brother and three younger sisters, had lived on their own without adult guardians³ since at least March.

　　Wang Zhenyao, head of the China Philanthropy Research Institution of Beijing Normal University, says it's time to establish a system to deprive irresponsible parents' of child custody⁴ when necessary.

　　李克强总理敦促避免留守儿童悲剧

　　"Usually, parents love their children. However, according to research, about 40 percent of Chinese households are scenes of child abuse due to parents' lack of knowledge, among which 4 percent are particularly serious. So it is urgent now for the government to set up a system to supervise irresponsible parents, to punish or even deprive them custody of their children."

　　Both parents had gone to Guangdong to search for work in different cities, making the four siblings "left-behind children."

　　The eldest son received money each month on a bank card his father gave him.

　　Local government has contacted the mother of the dead and sent people to pick her up, while the father told media that he knew what had happened and would go back home.

　　The reasons behind the tragedy are still under investigation⁵.

　　China has at least 60 million children in rural areas who are left with relatives, usually grandparents.

　　Wang Zhenyao suggests that the government should do more to secure the treatment and welfare of the left-behind children.

　　"It is not yet clear by law in our country about who's responsible for these left-behind children. We don't know who should be taking care of them under what kind of system or mechanism⁶. To any local government, simple policy making is far from enough. Without money, specialized⁷ facility, or professional staff, left-behind children's welfare won't be properly protected."

　　The "left-behind" children can easily fall victim to such tragedies as the one in Bijie City, or become victims of trafficking or suicide.

　　Wang Zhenyao from the China Philanthropy Research Institution says these children are also more prone⁸ to psychological problems.

　　"According to my experience and years of study, what children need more is psychological care. They need us to watch out for their mental health by providing more love and care."

　　At the same time, The Ministry⁹ of Civil Affairs says it will review into its social welfare network and offer psychological help for the needy¹⁰.

　　The ministry will also work with other departments, nongovernmental organizations and village communities to launch a special service for rural children who are left behind by migrant worker parents.

　　For CRI, this is Wang Wei.

1 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

2 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

3 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

4 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

7 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

8 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。