The Beijing News writes that the four children who committed suicide in Bijie are indicative of the mental state and living conditions of China’s “left-behind children”. The number of “left-behind children” in Chinese rural areas is always on the rise as the migrant population keeps expanding. In 2014 it reached 61.0255 million, which means that 1 in every 5 children in China is “left-behind”. The article also mentions a 2014 survey conducted by the NGO “On the Road to School”(上学路上), which looked at left-behind children in the rural areas of six cities and provinces. The survey, based on 2131 completed questionnaires, highlights aspects of the children’s lives such as how the absence of parents and poor grades at school negatively impacts their mental health. According to The Beijing News (新京报), the complete survey results will be released on June 18, 2015, but they included an infographic of it’s findings:
