BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- On the first day of the new semester, a junior school of Bao¡¯an Middle School in Bao¡¯an District took away 132 fashion schoolbags from students. The school authorities said fashion schoolbags, such as those printed with a skull and cross bones, were "liable to cause students to keep up with the Joneses," and "were not healthy for their physical and psychological development."

    A campus is not a market. It is a place where students can settle down and focus on intellectual, physical and spiritual development, reported Shenzhen Daily.

    To help students obtain more educational results within a certain period of time, a campus must retain basic features such as simplicity, hygiene, civility, elegance, seriousness, vitality and dynamics.

    To keep negative influences on students to a minimum, I don¡¯t see any necessity for students to use fashion schoolbags on campus.

    But once they step off campus, it would be OK for them to use whatever schoolbags they like.

    Some students may have considered chic schoolbags as a manifestation of their personalities.

    In fact, one¡¯s personality is not a reflection of appearance or the things one uses, but on the way of thinking.

    I came from an average family. I have been using the same schoolbag I bought two years ago. But some of my peers change their schoolbags every semester.

    Today there are some differences between teachers and students in their ways of thinking and appreciation of beauty, and these differences sometimes can cause misunderstanding.

    I don¡¯t think any school today should force students to use identical schoolbags.

    Instead, a school should allow its students to use chic schoolbags because they can show their individual personality.

    Fashion schoolbags printed with nothing profane, such as skulls, are acceptable. By carrying different style of schoolbags, students have a way to show their individual personalities.

    The school has the right to take away schoolbags printed with profane and destructive signs to maintain a positive learning environment.

    I hope what the school really cares about is not fashionable schoolbags but negative attitudes students might have by carrying schoolbags printed with profane or destructive signs.

    In America, school authorities usually have clear do¡¯s and don¡¯ts on campus, so American students know what they should, or should not do, from the beginning.

    I have a 13-year-old son who is now studying in junior two. Last semester, he threw aside a schoolbag which was still in good shape and bought a more fashionable one without consulting me.

    I spoke with another parent about the fact that some junior school students today are competing with their schoolbags and shoes because they cannot compete with their clothes any more after they were required to wear standard uniforms in school.

    This kind of competition is not good because students from wealthy families often feel superior to their peers from average or poor families.

    It is a great idea for schools today to advocate equality in education, which aims to encourage the all-round development of individual students.

    Teachers and parents today must learn how to use traditional Chinese ideas and guide students in their daily study and life to practice thrift.

(Shenzhen Daily)