The Ministry of Justice recently announced a draft amendment to Article 1085 of the Civil Code. Based on the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the right of parents to discipline their children, which was originally granted, is redefined as the right to protect and educate their children, and the use of "physical and mental violence" is restricted.

Recently, a high school student in central Taiwan committed suicide due to suspected inappropriate treatment from a teacher, which is tragic and heartbreaking.

Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) conducted a sample survey among high school students aged 12 to 17 in Taiwan using the DASS21 Emotional Self-Assessment Scale. It found that more than 10% of the students’ stress level is above the severe level, and the stress index of high school students (16.0%) is nearly twice as high as that of junior high school students (8.2%).

The Legislative Yuan is expected to pass the revised draft of the Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act and the Child and Adolescent Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act on the third reading in the next ten days. In response to this, Senior Director Li Hongwen of the Child Welfare League Foundation, Legislator Wang Wanyu, Secretary-General Chen Yiling of ECPAT Taiwan, Executive Director Du Yingqiu of the Women’s Rescue Foundation, Deputy Executive Director Wang Shufen of The Garden of Hope Foundation, and other partners in the amendment alliance held a joint press conference. Here, they proposed several amendments to the laws and demanded the central government improve image removal mechanisms, giving victims more substantial protection and support for their sexual privacy.

Chinese New Year is coming. Reunion with family to have a nice meal together is a tradition taken for granted for many families. However, for children in rural areas, having a family meal together is not a simple wish to carry out. According to a survey conducted by CWLF and CTBC Charity Foundation, 32.3% children in rural areas are not able to spend the Chinese New Year with their parents. Furthermore, the rampant pandemic and inflation have given disadvantaged families who already have financial difficulties an even bigger challenge. The survey found that almost 1/4 (24.3%) of families with children in rural areas worried about children’s educational expenses, e.g., tuition, books, insurance, etc. Moreover, 22.5% children in rural areas rarely have their parents prepare dinner for them; 17.2% rarely have hot meals in winter.

The 38th Light up a Life Fundraising Campaign is officially launched today on the 8th of December with a lighting ceremony at the CTBC Financial Park in Nangang District, Taipei City. People who joined the ceremony were excited to see the 13-metered tall “invincible star Christmas tree,” and the action figures Little Fire Kid and Fire Dragon to whom they shouted “Super cute!” With the title of winning the Taiwan Series of Professional Chinese Baseball League for two consecutive years, CTBC Brothers Baseball Team’s head coach Lin Wei-Chu along with the team showed up to the event and called to action on donations to help disadvantaged children in rural areas. CTBC Bank immediately took the lead by donating TWD 2 million to the campaign!

Discipline ≠ Corporal Punishments! Most studies show that rather than positive results, corporal punishments do more harm than the expected effects. Child Welfare League Foundation urges the government to regulate and abolish by law the social norm of physical punishments in Taiwan, and break the old thoughts of "spare the rod; spoil the child". CWLF Orange Ribbon VR immersive learning experience is coming up, let us learn to listen to children's voices by standing in their shoes and seeing from children's perspectives.

For CWLF’s sixth annual anti-bullying campaign this year, we once again collaborated with Swire Coca-Cola, Taiwan and launched “Wow! We Are Different!” (“wow” sounds similar to “socks” in Mandarin) anti-bullying campaign and declared November “Anti-Bullying Socks Month.” Schools are encouraged to join the campaign via simple and fun actions so as to gain public attention on anti-bullying issues.

The mayor election is taking place on November 26th, as youngsters under 18 years old can yet to vote, what is the ideal city environment for children and youngsters these future leaders of the cities planned to build? Five organisations which have been focusing on child and youth welfare including Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF), Child Health Alliance Taiwan (CHAT), John Tung Foundation, Good Neighbors Taiwan, National Taiwan University Children and Family Research Center (NTUCFRC) Sponsored by CTBC (China Securities and Investment Corporation) Charity Foundation, have conducted an analysis of the child affairs policy proposals of the mayoral candidates of the six special municipalities, and also raised three major urges for future mayors including “plan children-related affairs pragmatically,” “make diverse parenting policies,” and “priority of youngsters participation.”