Taiwan parents show little respect for children's "rights of privacy," a poll released ahead of the International Children's Rights Day, which falls on Nov. 20, indicated yesterday.
The poll, conducted by the DPP's department of social development affairs, found that more than 90 percent of parents responding to the survey said it was their prerogative to choose friends for their children.
More than 70 percent said they found nothing wrong with examining their children's bags or correspondence, regardless of a child's resistance.
Many of the parents defended their responses, saying they were based on the need to protect their children.
Lee Wen-ying (李文英), director of the social development affairs department, said while a majority of parents recognized the concept of "children's rights," the rights are not actually applied by them.
According to the poll, a child's privacy rights are the ones most violated by parents, who say they are only trying to "protect" their children.
For example, a large percentage of parents said they would intervene in a child's social relationship in order to protect their offspring from the influence of "bad friends."
In addition, many parents said they had the right to inspect a child's belongings.
Children, for their part, disagree as to what their rights should be, and many say parents do not allow them to make their own decisions, the DPP poll found.
While more than 50 percent of the parents said they respected their children's opinions, more than 80 percent of children thought otherwise.
Lee said an authoritarian parenting style prevails in rural Taiwan and tends to be found more often in households where parents are older and less-educated.
Like the Taiwanese saying suggests, Lee said, "Children have ears but no mouth."
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