Wednesday 16 December 2009

Kidnap fears spark tough love for ‘little emperors’

After a spate of kidnappings, wealthy parents in Shenzhen have decided some tough love is necessary to ensure their “little emperors” are equipped to survive.

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Guanyu said...

Kidnap fears spark tough love for ‘little emperors’

Fiona Tam
16 December 2009

After a spate of kidnappings, wealthy parents in Shenzhen have decided some tough love is necessary to ensure their “little emperors” are equipped to survive.

Shenzhen police say four children aged 11 to 13 have been kidnapped since June, with two killed even after their parents moved to pay ransoms. However, the number of kidnapped children could be as high as 23.

Two boys from Nanshan Foreign Language School were taken, but met with very different fates.

Cao Zongkai, 11, was kidnapped in June and held for 15 days before he was rescued. Yi Yichen, also 11, was kidnapped in October, and his body was dumped in the sea by his kidnappers. The difference? According to a police investigation, Zongkai was quiet and well behaved during the ordeal, while Yichen was spoiled and noisy.

The mother of one of Yichen’s classmates saw posters about him the day after he went missing, and said she worried that he was ill-equipped to survive such an ordeal.

“Many little emperors live in comfort and are used to taking a superior attitude to strangers. This could infuriate kidnappers,” she said. “I have cut my son’s pocket money and started to teach him how to protect and control himself if he gets taken.”

The mother said she collected internet reports about children who survived kidnappings.

“I explained to my son about different kidnapping cases and why some kids survived and others didn’t,” she said. “Safety education is important, and all schools should teach practical survival skills.”

Zongkai’s ordeal provides a few clues on how best to survive - he kept quiet, did not try to escape and waited patiently to be rescued.

“I was tied up for 15 days in an empty house after two kidnappers took me away from outside the school,” the Southern Metropolis News quoted Zongkai as saying. “The kidnappers cooked for me, but I wasn’t allowed to shower or change clothes. They seldom spoke to me and I never thought about escaping. I knew my parents and police would rescue me, so I told the kidnappers that I just wanted something to read.”

Nanshan residents say some wealthy children are very spoiled.

“One time a woman scraped my taxi with her BMW. Her son jumped out and pointed a finger in my face. He shouted: ‘I don’t know why people are so careless. Let’s see whether your broken car is as tough as my BMW SUV,’” taxi driver Chen Xianhui said. “I couldn’t forgive such an insult.”