BEIJING (CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Statistics show that at least 50 million children in China use cosmetics. It is an open secret that some livestreaming anchors make money by teaching children how to look good by using cosmetics.

A thriving makeup industry targeting children raises questions on whether children really need cosmetics to look good. In fact, even some adolescents need to be taught how to appreciate natural beauty and cultivate healthy aesthetic values to prevent them being lured into using cosmetics by livestreaming anchors.

Nature is the best textbook on aesthetics for young minds, who should learn from it to appreciate the beauty of the soul rather than focus on looks.

They should know that external beauty is only skin-deep and will change with time, while the beauty of the heart and mind can only deepen as one ages, and prompt a person to become a better human being and better serve society.

Also, the innocence that is unique to children is a natural beauty that no cosmetic or camera filter can duplicate. Not to mention that many cosmetic products contain harmful chemicals.

That cosmetic surgeries are becoming popular among graduates should ring the alarm bells for society. It is time parents and teachers raise the juveniles’ media literacy and help them cultivate healthy aesthetic values at an early age.

Otherwise, cosmetics, cosmetic surgery and the livestreaming industry will brainwash young minds.

As the country is promoting all-round education, it is time to include the cultivation of healthy aesthetic values, and the improvement of media literacy in the country’s compulsory education system, so as to prevent young minds from being contaminated by commercialism and encourage them to pursue true beauty, that is, the beauty of the soul.

• China Daily is a member of The Straits Times media partner Asia News Network, an alliance of 23 news media titles.

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