A MIDDLE school in Qingyuan, Guangdong Province, is amending a set of rules that restrict a wide range of interactions between male and female students, after images of the document were uploaded online that touched off a heated debate.

The rules, formulated by the administration of Qingxin District No, 1 Middle School, prohibit male and female students from going in and out of the school canteen together, getting food for each other at the canteen, using a meal tray together or feeding each other.

Students of the opposite sex will fail their comprehensive quality assessment and receive serious warnings if they are seen riding a bicycle or motorcycle together. Punishments for violating the rules range from verbal admonishment to demerits and even expulsion.

The rules were formulated to regulate the behavior of male and female students during puberty, and to target abnormal campus interaction — behaviors outside the boundaries of traditional morality — as well as frivolous or uncivilized conduct, according to the text.

They were meant for internal discussion and have not been implemented yet, the school administration said.

The administration admitted that the wording of the rules needed to be improved.

The Qingxin District Education Bureau said the school will make the rules public after they’ve been amended.

(China Daily)