The adjective “Orwellian” refers to the frightening world of George Orwell’s "1984," in which the state controls thought, and spreads misinformation, in Wikipedia's words.  This term was recently applied to new trends in education in communist China as well as... Wyoming. 

In Chinese universities, colleges, and lower level schools, the Chinese government plans to expand the Student Informant System (SIS), a system in which student informants report on the behavior and language of their classmates and teachers / professors.  The goal, according to a CIA document, is as follows: “to ensure campus stability and to control the debate and discussion of politically sensitive issues.”

According to the document, students have had their academic records penalized and their scholarships revoked for voicing unconventional views.  The informant system has led to professors being investigated for criticizing the communist government in class.

Major concerns mentioned in the document include creating a “culture of denunciation,” and the fear of being punished decreasing the quality of intellectual discussion and ultimately, learning. 

The SIS system originated after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.  The document says, “Government and Party officials were determined to suppress simmering resentment on campus, and identify and monitor potential future student leaders.” 

In Wyoming, the activities of students and teachers will soon be monitored by a camera, as mandated by two new bills that are geared towards revamping teacher evaluations., according to Trib.com. 

The first bill would mandate that teachers are evaluated every month in writing. The video tapes of classroom instruction would ensure that both teachers and administrators see what really goes on, instead of putting on a show for principal evaluation day.

The second bill requires that an instructional facilitator or seasoned teacher and parent representative view the tapes with the teacher and principal.  That parent would report to the school board. This is all in hopes of giving the educator a chance to improve by watching the tapes, and ultimately, increase student achievement.

In China, families have only been allowed to have one child since 1979.  A serious consequence that China faces now, is that the elderly do not have someone to look after them and end up dying alone in their apartments. The elderly are proposing an amendment to the Law on Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Aged, which would make it mandatory to physically and mentally look after one’s parents, according to BBC News.

According to the article, “China has nearly 167 million people aged over 60 and one million above 80." Even though the concept of caring for the elderly is embedded in Chinese culture, new work styles get in the way of family. 

Readers had different views of the proposal:

I'm completely in favour of this proposal.I work and live very far away from my mother - who's in her late sixties and lives alone. Though I try to call her a couple of times every week and visit her a couple of times every year, I find it's far from enough. I am busy with work and it's quite difficult to ask for holidays simply to visit my mother. If there's a legal duty to visit one's parents, it would be much easier to apply for leave to visit your parents. Rong Fan, Hong Kong

Merely visiting elderly parents once in a while won't extend much relief to their solitude. Legal compulsion to visit elderly parents won't make much difference in their lives. Moral education must be imparted. However, if the government plans such a legal compulsion, some steps like granting special leave, or reimbursing travel expenditure may help the poor workers and labourers in acting according to the law. I live away from my home town, but my mother lives with me and my family here. Roy Varghese, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India

I think it should be optional for any individual to look after their parents because any son or daughter would naturally base their decision on the way he or she grew up with the parents. Not all parents are caring towards their children so it is a give and take situation. Thomas Awah Jr Dzenyagha, Douala, Cameroon

This story was originally published on L.A. Youth.

By Ha Young Kwen

Earlier this year, I saw a documentary about North Korea at my church. One scene showed North Korean boys scrounging for food in the mud with no shoes on. The movie explained that there’s a famine in North Korea. But what makes it worse is that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-il, gives his supporters and soldiers food while leaving millions hungry.

I was born in South Korea, which borders North Korea. North Koreans have the same hopes, dreams and fears as we do, but don’t have the same opportunities. I think of them as my brothers and sisters. It hurts to think that my people are dying because they don’t have enough food to eat.

I learned that North Korea is a dictatorship and the government holds absolute control over people’s lives. North Koreans don’t have freedom of speech, press or religion. People are sent to prison camps for the smallest reasons, like listening to a foreign radio station. No one can leave or enter the country.

However, those who are desperate for food and freedom risk their lives to leave. To escape North Korea, the only option is to swim across one of its rivers into China. North Korean soldiers patrol the rivers and if the soldiers see anyone trying to escape, they shoot them. In one scene from the documentary, a riverbank was lined with dead bodies, which reminded me of pictures I’ve seen in books about the Holocaust. Once in China, North Korean refugees have to hide from Chinese officials. If they’re caught, China sends them back to North Korea, where they could be tortured, sent to a prison camp or executed.

The film was about refugees hiding in China. They were trying to find safety, but most of them got sent back.

If money equals power... then the youth in China are holding the power. According to enovate, 80 percent of China's "wealthy consumers" are under 45. Companies are focusing on how to reach this money pocket: the Chinese youth consumer.

However, young Chinese consumers will not be easily manipulated. A phenomenon called "group shopping," or Tuan Gou, is growing rapidly throughout Asia, but also spreading throughout the world.  It was listed as one of the 2010 Youth Trends to follow, in a report put out by Youth Research Partners, and shoppers are using it to lower prices of expensive items.

Group Shopping is when several consumers, all looking for the same thing, communicate with each other online and lobby for a lower price. This shows just how powerful online social networking can be. It's possible to connect with people you don’t know just to buy, buy, buy exactly what you want!

A helpful example is explained on the China IWOM Blog. Let’s say you are looking to buy a car for a certain price. The first step is to put this information online. Then you wait for people to join you with similar purchase requirements. Then, the leader of the group approaches the company, and works to get the best deal for the group. In today's economy, car companies are usually willing to bargain. Then, the group meets with the dealer to make the purchase.

You may have read the previous YMI post by Brianna Gaxiola, about being a Shopaholic. If you identified with Brianna, then maybe it's time to form a Shopaholics United, and go group shopping!

Lonely bachelors from Shanghai to Beijing with big bank accounts need be lonely no more. If you want to become a member of the premiere dating site in China, Golden Bachelor, all you need is $44,000 and meet the qualifications.

This is not your typical dating site.Potential members are screen to come from wealthy families but that they're talented and beautiful. In other words a prize catch. Even with these restrictions, the site currently has 5 million members. Golden Bachelor also offers their clients access to psychologists and special matchmaking consultants to help their rich clients find love.

The dating site offered a matchmaking party—a more expensive speed dating event—which charged members $14,600 to get in. The party hosted 21 single women and 22 single men. The matchmaking party pulled in over $600,000 for Golden Bachelor on that one night. The only difference between this lavish party and speed dating is that women danced in wedding gowns, sing, and cook for the rich guy they like. Notice that one guy paid almost 15 grand and had a zero percent chance to get a girl.

While people in America are losing jobs people in China are paying big bucks for mates. But Xu Tianli, creator of the dating site, says this is how finding love in China could look. CNN's Lara Farrar points out that dating has become more competitive in China.

“In a society where 24 million Chinese men will find themselves lacking wives by 2020 because of the country's gender imbalance, according to a recent study by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, it could get highly competitive.”

(via CNN) 

China is definitely seeing lots revenue in dating sites. In 2008 their online dating market was worth $43.9 million and is expected to double in value by the end of this year.

By Nick Eckenwiler- (Youth Radio DC at the Latin American Youth Center)

Back in July, not many people were concerned about the H1N1 virus. I was one of the skeptics who thought that the media had blown the situation entirely out of proportion.

So I hardly thought about it for the first half of the summer. But then I went to China.

Stung by criticism of its response to SARS in 2002, China was taking no chances with the swine flu. Their approach was to screen all international travelers arriving in China, and quarantine any who were suspected of having the virus. I had heard about this policy, of course, but paid little attention.

I was traveling with a group of twenty high school students. But before we even cleared customs, that number was reduced to nineteen. The infrared cameras spotted one of us with a fever. Our chaperones told us that the friend who had been taken would be fine and treated well. But the next day, our friend was diagnosed with H1N1. Two more in our group, feeling sick, were taken to the hospital. The rest of us were isolated in a special “quarantine hotel.” With no roommates, calling cards, and scant access to the internet, there was nothing to do but read and watch TV. Despite being given virtually no information on our friends’ conditions or situations, we stayed in good spirits. Four days later, we were still in quarantine, and our number had shrunk to nine.

The Chinese government announced Thursday that it has set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 relative to economic development. China is aiming to reduce what it calls carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent compared to 2005 levels, according to Xinhua, the state news agency. President Obama discussed climate change with the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, when the two met in Beijing on Nov. 16.

The announcement came the day after President Obama pledged a provisional target for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. This is the first time in more than a decade that an American administration has offered even a tentative promise to reduce production of climate-altering gases.

China and the United States, the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, have been in discussions on options that both nations can take to address the issue of climate change. Both countries are expected to be crucial players in talks next month at international climate meetings in Copenhagen. Although leaders have been careful to say that they do not expect to come to an agreement there, negotiations will take place for an international post-2012 treaty on reducing emissions.

(via The New York Times)

China has done it again. This year, China banned Twitter. The block came just days before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement, a series of demonstrations in Beijing in 1989 that culminated in the Tiananmen Square massacre. Now, China’s government has banned online games that glamorize gang life and violence.

Do you find it hard to keep your hands and eyes off the computer? I know it’s hard for me. With social networking sites becoming the core of my addiction, it’s hard to take a time off, but imagine our government telling us no Myspace, no Facebook, no YouTube, no Twitter -- how would you react?

Can you imagine our government shutting down Twitter, MySpace, or Facebook? All hell would break loose.