China
13:16, 21-Sep-2017
Bright orange backpacks help raise public awareness to protect hearing-impaired children
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An orange backpack specially designed for hearing-impaired students has drawn much attention to handicapped children in China after several celebrities posted pictures featuring such bags on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
A hearing-impaired student walks home with the orange backpack. /Chinanews Photo
A hearing-impaired student walks home with the orange backpack. /Chinanews Photo
"To all friends behind the wheels, if you see children with this orange backpack, please slow down — they are hearing impaired." Pop singer Chen Xiaochun wrote on his Weibo account last Sunday.
His post has captured over 210,000 likes and over 50,000 retweets. Many celebrities and media outlets followed the suit, calling drivers to make way for the hearing-impaired children who are prone to traffic accidents.
Screenshot of Chen Xiaochun's Weibo post.
Screenshot of Chen Xiaochun's Weibo post.
The bright backpack is part of a charity project proposed by Audiology Development Foundation of China in March 2016.
The campaign, named "orange backpack", aims to use the bright symbol to raise public awareness to protect hearing-impaired children from any road safety threat.
Inside the backpack, valued 120 yuan (18 US dollars) are such items as watercolor pigments, color pencils and some drawing paper.
Painting materials inside the orange backpack. /Chinanews Photo
Painting materials inside the orange backpack. /Chinanews Photo
Staff from the foundation told The Beijing News that hearing-impaired children are often blessed with better color sensitivity, so the painting materials are designed to encourage their creativity.
By now, more than 10,000 bags are sent out across China.
Students with orange backpacks crossing the road with help from a passerby. /Chinanews Photo
Students with orange backpacks crossing the road with help from a passerby. /Chinanews Photo
While many netizens have shown warm support to the initiative, others worry the bag may bring discrimination and unnecessary attention to the children.
"The children know the basic traffic rule, so they don’t need special care from drivers," Wu Yuqin, the mother of a hearing-impaired boy, told The Paper. "My son doesn’t even want to wear bigger hearing aids; he wants to hide his hearing problem."
According to China News, more than 4.6 million children aged 14 and under suffer hearing problems in China.