Huang Hongzhang, Yibo's father, says, "We don't expect that our son will become a politician when he grows up. He will be left to make his own career choices in the future. We taught him to read books and newspapers at a young age to broaden his horizons."

"I don't think my son is a prodigy. He is just an ordinary kid who is determined, independent and kind-hearted," Huang Hongzhang adds.

Family education in question

Zhang Ming, a professor of political science at the Renmin University of China, wrote in an online article that Huang Yibo is an example of Chinese education being negatively influenced by traditional Chinese culture, which attaches great importance to official positions and ranks.

Watching the news and reading newspapers at such a young age can cause imbalances in a child's knowledge and personality, Zhang says, adding that the awareness of the importance of official rankings can distort children's value systems.

Parents and educators should protect the innocence of children and let them grow up naturally, says headmaster Huang Hengzhong. Huang believes that the development of a child's personality can be harmed if his or her parents instill a strong sense of self-importance from an early age.

Parents should provide their children with enough space for them to discover and develop their own interests and personalities, Huang says.

Sun Yunxiao, deputy director of the China Youth and Children Research Center, said in an article published by the China Daily newspaper that it is unfair to judge a child according to information reported by the media.

Some of Huang's teachers worry that the negative comments will hurt the child, and they hope that people can be more tolerant about the way in which Huang is being raised.

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2011)

藝博的父親黃宏章說：“我們并不期待兒子長大了當官，將來他會有自己的職業選擇。我們在他這么小的年紀教他讀書看報，目的是想拓寬他的視野。”

“我不認為兒子是天才。他只是一個普通的孩子，他理想堅定，十分獨立，心地善良。”黃宏章補充說。

家庭教育遭質疑

中國人民大學政治系教授張鳴在網上撰文稱，中國傳統文化中的“官本位”思想對中國的教育產生了負面影響，黃藝博就是這樣一個例證。

這么小的年紀就看新聞讀報紙，會讓孩子的知識結構和性格塑造失衡。張鳴還補充說，對官位重要性的認識還會扭曲孩子的價值觀。

黃恒忠校長表示，家長和教育工作者應當保護孩子的童真，讓他們正常成長。黃恒忠認為，家長在孩子很小的時候就灌輸很強的自我重要感，這對孩子的性格發展十分不利。

他說，父母應該留給孩子們足夠的空間，讓他們自己去發現并培養興趣、塑造性格。

在《中國日報》發表的一篇文章里，中國青少年研究中心副主任孫云曉表示，根據媒體報道的信息就對一個孩子做出評判是不公平的。

幾位教過黃藝博的老師也表達了他們的擔憂，這些非議會對孩子造成傷害，他們希望大家對他父母的教育方式多些包容。

（China.org.cn Wendy 譯）