By 1969, China had dismantled its education system. Family life and social interaction was subject to intervention and management by the state.
For children growing up in these conditions, denied play, denied a range of experience, and denied safe refuge at home, finding a balanced way of behaving became increasingly difficult. Many turned to gangs, or behaviours such as fighting and stealing.
This created an urban problem. Central government presumably feared this would develop into a civil unrest, or perhaps a challenge to themselves. What do you think? Was the power structure in Peking ultimately afraid of the population?
One solution was simply to send young teenagers out of the cities, and to rural locations. They were instructed 'to learn from the peasants'. For many youngsters this experience was probably bitter. We'll read about this in Chapter 22 of Wild Swans.
Think about other histories you know of: what have been the techniques used by governments to deal with a population?
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