Most people believe teachers',ethics are degenerating, a survey by China Youth Daily and instant messaging website QQ.com has found.

According to the poll's results, which were published in the newspaper on Monday, more than 50 percent of the 2,200 respondents said it was unacceptable for professors to post curses and personal attacks in their blogs. And more than 70 percent of those opposing such behavior said the professors should be punished.

Last year, Beijing Normal University professor Ji Guangmao posted blog entries insulting and cursing fellow academic Zhong Hua of Sichuan Normal University after Zhong criticized one of Ji's books. This earned Ji the moniker "Professor Mudslinger", and he later deleted the entries under pressure from the media and public.

Peking university professor Luan Yimei said: "Blogs, which possess elements of mass media, are more than personal journals. So bloggers should observe social and moral standards."

The survey found 60 percent of respondents agreed with Luan, while 30 percent said they regard blogs as "personal territory".

Du Hanfeng, a student at the Communication University of China, said: "Teachers and students should be equal.

"If students can be punished for posting insulting words in their blogs, so should teachers."

Peking University has already begun formulating regulations on teachers' conduct.

"We have changed the regulation on teachers' ethics, so that it now regulates not only teachers' academic behavior, but also their personal conduct," university president Xu Zhihong said.

(Xinhua March 26,2008)