Opponents

Wang Jiahong (people.com.cn): Everyone is supposed to visit their elderly parents often. That's why the legal requirement for "going home often" has caused debate.

Actually, the necessity of going back home and visiting one's parents regularly is undeniable. The focus of the controversy is on how often one should go home. How can the law force children to go home if they do not have enough holidays and even have no access to train tickets during big festivals?

In real life, there are many things the law can't help solve. In such cases, laws seem empty. As for those who are not kind enough to their old parents, it's sometimes necessary to impose tough measures. However, in most cases, people do not visit their parents often, not because they do not miss them or are unfilial, but because they have difficulties doing so. How will the new bill help solve these difficulties?

Writing "going home often" into law shows social concern for the elderly. However, it is also a helpless choice in an aging society.

Wang Shichuan (catv.net): China is now home to 167 million elderly people, half of whom are left behind by their children. Such a lack of care has led to all kinds of tragedy. Traditional views hold that children are supposed to visit their parents often and even live with them. However, in reality, some children completely neglect their parents. While the new law is well-intentioned, there are many factors that prevent children from visiting their parents, and if such problems are not addressed, little will change.

First, are children unwilling to go home to see their parents or are they prevented from doing so? Nowadays, young people tend to live in cities, or even move from one city to anther for work while their parents stay at home. Most want to go home to see their elderly parents, but are unable due to distance or a lack of holidays.

Second, how often should children visit their parents? Is it once every month or once half a year or what? Besides, even if children do not act in accordance with the law, their parents will not turn to the law for help. If children are forced to go home, do you think families will be happy when parents receive their reluctant children? Filial piety is expected to spring up naturally.

Third, is it OK for laws to stray into the realm of ethics? Going home often or not is related to ethics and morality. Laws are unable to solve all problems. Nevertheless, some people today have developed a kind of law worship and would like to turn to these in settling problems. The willingness and frequency of filial visitation is an issue of ethics. Using legal means seems like overkill.

Traditionally, taking care of elderly parents is regarded the responsibility of grown-up children, but in some sense, it is also the government's role. The government should take up its part of responsibility in caring for the country's senior citizens whose families are unable to do the job. This is more necessary than forcing people go home often via legal means.

Yan Xi (rednet.cn): Most people oppose interference by law into the realm of ethics. In most cases, it's not that people don't want to go home to visit their parents. Therefore, its' better to create a friendly condition where children find it easier to go home than to force them.

Supporting elderly parents involves more than only material concerns and time spent at home. Filial piety is not something to be simply measured by time. What old people really want is warmth and emotional satisfaction. However, this is hard to measure and can lead to dispute. In some cases, children might have already offered their parents what is generally thought of as enough, while the parents disagree. This is why some people are opposed to the "forced" visits.

As long as elder parents file lawsuits against children, relationships will deteriorate. Instead of solving the problem, here, law is complicating the issue. Supposing children do violate the law by not going home often, will legal means be enough to persuade children to go home as often as their parents require?

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