Chinese kindergarteners say ‘I do’ in mass wedding ceremony
Child ‘groom’ Maurice (2nd from R) kisses his ‘bride’ Lenka during a traditional Sorbian ‘birds wedding’ at a kindergarten in Cottbus, eastern Germany. Children of Sorbian origin traditionally celebrate the symbolic wedding to greet the upcoming end of the winter. The Sorbs are a small west Slavic people, living as a minority in the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg.
Everybody loves a good wedding. But what about when it involves over 100 kindergarteners?
Fierce debate has been sparked in China by a mock wedding ceremony held at Yaolan Kindergarten in Zhengzhou, many of which ended with a hug or even — gasp! — a kiss.
"They all chose their own partners and then they had to woo them. Maybe with some chocolates or a toy," Kindergarten head Li Wang told the UK's Orange News."This teaches them about relationships and how to maintain them and what we should all be working towards."
The tiny brides and grooms exchanged vows to stick up for each other if they were being bullied and to care for each other if they got sick, the Shanghaist reported.
Parents apparently were in favor of the wedding, the China Daily reported.
"In this kindergarten, our children learn more than kids from other kindergartens," one of the parents said. "It is good for them to experience marriage. It's a good education in development. I support it."
Some have raised eyebrows at the wedding activity, arguing it could distort the children's views of love and marriage, according to the All-China Women's Federation.
Several Sina Weibo users posted comments about the mock marriages, calling the exercise "ridiculous" and saying that it could "cause children to lose their innocence too early."
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