A student pours water to the floor before doing chores in school in Bijie, Guizhou Province. Photo: CFP

Xiao Hui (pseudonym), a 28-year-old teacher in a primary school in Liupanshui, Guizhou Province, has been concerned about a boy in his class for months.

Xiao Hui noticed that the boy became gradually isolated and his grades plummeted since his parents left home to work in a big city early this year.

"I tried to talk with him to understand his problems but my efforts were in vain. He used to be an optimistic boy but has become unsociable now. I can see that he has no sense of security and has little trust, even toward his teachers," Xiao Hui said.

What happened to the boy is not unusual. There are millions of children in China suffering the pain of being "left-behind children," whose parents work in cities and leave them at home to stay with their grandparents.

The changes in personality and psychological situations of these children have drawn attention not only from teachers like Xiao Hui, but also from the public.

Pains of being left behind

In a latest tragedy, four left-behind children in Bijie, Guizhou, died at home after drinking a bottle of pesticide on June 9.

"I vow to die before I'm 15 years old. Death has been my dream for years and now, I want my life to return to zero," read the suicide note of the 13-year-old, the oldest of the four.

Villagers and relatives of the children attributed their deaths to a lack of love from parents and their feelings of inferiority caused by abandonment, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.

Whatever the reason for the tragedy, it has shone a light on the unhealthy psychological status of millions of left-behind children.

According to statistics from the All China Women's Foundation, there are 61 million left-behind children in rural areas, accounting for 22 percent of minors in China. About 30 million children under 18 have no parent at home and 2 million take care of themselves with no guardian.

The NGO On the Road to School said that 34 percent of left-behind children have shown suicidal tendencies and more than 70 percent have psychological problems at different levels. It cited data from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

"The absence of parents in life makes these left-behind children more introverted, isolated and sensitive than others, and most of them have difficulty in dealing with human relations," Wu Xingfen, founder of an organization that offers guidance to left-behind children in Gaoyou, Jiangsu Province, told the Global Times.

"Left-behind children suffer from emotional instability, and they easily become anxious, socially withdrawn and judgmental. These problems vary with different ages and genders," read a study conducted by the Institute of Psychology of the CAS in 2009.

"Some girls have difficulties in communicating with others and go to extremes easily. Some boys are obstinate and unruly and have strained relations with teachers and classmates," said Wu.

The lack of parents influences the children's academic performance, said Wu, adding that grandparents often do not help with their homework.

"The children did not take their studies seriously, show little patience in learning, and make excuses for not finishing homework," said Wu.

"Some students leave school before they finish their compulsory education and without good education and guidance from adult guardians, these children go toward the wrong way," Xiao Hui said. "The crime rate among left-behind children is high. Some children began by stealing around the villages and some end up doing more serious crimes, like murder."

A 12-year-old girl who is a left-behind child in Hengyang, Hunan Province, killed her two classmates with poison on June 10 because of a small dispute that led to her being scolded by her grandparents. The girl made two excuses to cover her crime and looked calm when being questioned by the police, according to The Beijing News.

Seeking methods to help 

"Children should grow up with care and love from their parents. Separation from parents at an early age makes it difficult to cultivate these children in a normal environment, which leads to multiple problems," said Yang Dongping, an expert from the National Educational Advisory Committee.

"But we could not blame parents for such psychological problems. The household registration system in our country makes it difficult for migrant-worker parents to bring their children with them," said Yang.

Rural residents need to provide as many as 28 certificates to bring their children when they work in some cities, and the education quality in some schools for their children could not be guaranteed, which leave the parents no choice but to send their children to boarding schools at home, according to Yang.

Since reform of the household registration system will not be accomplished in a short period, joint efforts should be made by parents, schools, governments and NGOs to improve the psychological status of left-behind children, he said.

A total of 2.6 million children failed to receive any phone calls from their parents in a year, even though contact with parents once or twice in a week could significantly ease children's depression, Li Yifei, an education professor at Beijing Normal University, wrote in a report on the psychological status of left-behind children 2015.

"Schools could cooperate with NGOs to have volunteers to give psychological guidance to these children or organize various activities, like showing good films to cheer and enlighten them," Xiao Hui said.

"More people and NGOs have given financial support to left-behind children,"said Yu Shi, an employee from the On the Road to School.  

Some cities have eased restrictions on having children of migrant workers enter schools, or opened pilot schools for children of migrant workers. For instance, Changchun in Jilin Province announced it was cancelling extra fees for migrant workers in 2011.

"The most important thing to improve the situation is to introduce specific laws and regulations, which not only will ensure their rights but also regulate the government's responsibility in taking care of them," said Yang.

As for Wu, her own experience as a left-behind child motivated her to help more left-behind children transcend a lonely childhood. "It is a delight to see smiles on their faces again."