On June 1st, the School of Political Science and Public Administration of Shandong University, and the Beijing Center of the University of Chicago held a seminar on “Children and Youth Development” in Beijing. Well-known scholars from China and the University of Chicago were invited to speak on issues concerned with the development of children and adolescents. The themes of the seminar primarily focused on different social surveys for children and adolescents, education for children; survey and finding in youth attitudes and values; poverty, urbanisation and child development; and social service projects for children in distress. More than 20 scholars and experts from the University of Chicago, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Nankai University, Sun Yat-sen University, Beijing Normal University, Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, UNICEF, China Social Welfare Foundation, etc. attended the meeting.
The opening ceremony of the seminar was moderated by Chen Lijun, Researcher from Chapin Hall Children's Research Center of the University of Chicago. William C. Reavis, Professor Yang Dali of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Professor Cao Xianqiang, Executive Vice President of the School of Political Science and Public Administration of Shandong University attended the meeting and delivered speeches.
In the theme of Social Survey For Children And Adolescents And Children's Education, Dr Wu Qiong, (Head of the CFPS project office of the Institute of Social Science Survey of Peking University) presented some specific contents of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS); Wang Weidong, (Deputy of National Survey Research Center at Renmin University of China and Professor of the Department of Sociology) presented the design, implementation and discovery of the China Education Panel Studies (CEPS); Zhou Di, (Researcher at the University of Chicago), based on CEPS data, presented the research results in economic well-being, psychological and social-emotional well-being, cognitive development, and educational attainment and adolescent values; Professor Liang Yucheng from Sun Yat-sen University introduced the consequences of early social isolation and socialization in the process of children's education.
In the theme of Investigation and Discovery for Youth Attitudes and Values, Professor Feng Shizheng, (Deputy Dean of the School of Sociology and Population Studies of the Renmin University of China) introduced the growth survey of capital university students and explored the patterns, causes and effects of college students' growth and differentiation. Professor Yang Dali of the University of Chicago presented A Comparative Study of Chinese Youth Values among Generations; Professor Chu Chengya from Shandong University presented about the general situation and preliminary findings of the survey of Political Psychology among College Students in Shandong Province.
In the theme of Poverty, Urbanization and Child Development, Chen Lijun, Researcher at the University of Chicago presented his research findings based on children's family structure, the rate of parental absence of children at different ages, and child development indicators. Dr Li Miao from Shandong University presented about the tracking survey on education of migrant children, including civic education, grateful education, social mobility and anti-school behaviour; Professor Liu Jingming of Tsinghua University described the research on child malnutrition and cognitive development; Professor Huang Xiaoyan of Nankai University, on the theme of intervening strategy of the multi-dimension anti-poverty social work for children, described the child welfare service delivery system.
In the theme of Social Service Projects For Children in Distress, Dr. Nan Fang, an Associate Researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, proposed to construct a child-centered PICS model based on the monitoring and evaluating of the Chinese children's public welfare industry; Gao Yurong, Director of Children's Welfare Research Center of the China Philanthropy Research Institute at Beijing Normal University, presented about the relevant content of technical support and supervision of the child director; Ms Chen Xuemei, a child protection expert of the UNICEF China Office, examined and focused on the potential risks and protective factors of child abuse with the theme “China Children Violence Survey Design”; Ms Ding Fenghui, (Director, Children's Department of the China Social Welfare Foundation) presented about goals, advantages and functions of the Children's Information System of the China Social Welfare Foundation.
On the backdrop of key directions proposed on the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, for "building a strong country in education, strengthening the social security system, and resolutely fighting poverty" are essential for China's social development, this seminar focused on the children and adolescents. The event was useful for sharing research findings of different survey techniques to identify causes, variations in problems and promote understanding about cross-cultural approaches in the field and their social policies. Some in the event anticipated this colloquium would help to create an international platform for youth research. Studies focused on value creation, cultural influence and organisational appeal would take the field. The same would benefit from studying General Secretary Xi Jinping's essential expositions on youth work. The conference agreed on that there is a firm need to focus studies on the development of children and adolescents, to lead it and to do better in fighting new challenges.
