China's Education Ministry has asked school authorities to help students ward off influence of pornography on Internet or mobile WAP sites through educational campaigns.

The ministry also encouraged students in primary and secondary schools to report Internet links and mobile WAP sites that contain "negative information", especially obscene content.

Local education departments and schools should carry out educational activities tailored to different age groups, guide them to "properly handle cyber world", and enhance their understanding of the negative effect of porn websites, online violence and lewd information, the ministry said in a notice on its website.

The move was the ministry's latest effort to echo the government's endeavor to crack down on pornography on Internet websites and mobile WAP sites.

The ministries of public security and industry and information technology initiated a campaign in August last year to eradicate lewd contents from the Internet.

Students should be taught not to make or spread lewd content online; not to enter profitable Internet cafes; not to access websites with "lewd" content; not to play lewd cyber games, the notice said.

They were also advised not to use offensive and obscene languages and be careful in making friends on Internet.

"Lewd" content includes violence, libel, private and other information that violates standards of public decency.

Public distribution of pornography is illegal in China, and the government last year began to stamp out WAP porn links to shield young people from online porn.

The Ministry of Education also required schools to make regular examinations on school websites and install filter software to students' computers.

Teachers should enhance communication with students and give counseling to those who incline to be obsessed in the cyber world, the notice stressed.

The notice also advocates school authorities and parents to join hands in helping children establish good Internet ethics.

"Parents should not leave students alone to use Internet and spend more time to communicate with them." read the notice.

China has more than 338 million Internet users, and more than 60 percent are younger than 30, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.

(Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2010)