(Minghui.org) From the outbreak of COVID in China in 2020 to the beginning of 2023, students had to take online courses. Since they could access cellphones and computers, they began to play games and watch videos, which filled their minds with all kinds of bad things. It was very difficult for them to resist temptation, and many students' grades fell. Teachers complained to their parents.
I run a home-based boarding school for primary school students. As soon as the lock-down was lifted in 2020, 10-year-old Yiyi’s mother called. Yiyi was my student before the lock-down. The mother said, “Yiyi plays with her cellphone every day, and I can’t stop her. She now wants to kill herself, I’m so upset. Please help me!” I asked her to bring the child over.
I taught Yiyi for a few years, and she was a good child. What happened? As soon as she saw me, she tearfully said, “Teacher, I don’t want to live. I hate my mother!” I hugged her and asked her, “What’s going on?”
“Because I surf the Internet and play with my cellphone, my grades dropped. My mother beat me and swore at me every day. She also didn’t allow me to sleep and forced me to keep doing schoolwork on my cellphone. I ended up playing with it for six days and nights straight. When I walked upstairs I almost fainted. She hit me with a big stick. I don’t want to live any more, but I thought about how to die so that she’d stop beating me. It’d also save me from going to school, which would be a big relief.” She began weeping.
She complained about how her mother mistreated her. I asked her mother, “Are you menopausal?” She replied, “I’m not, but I’m depressed. I’ve been on medication to counter that.”
I told Yiyi, “Your mother loves you. She expects you to be on top at school. It’s probably because she lacks patience that she didn’t treat you properly. How about we do it this way? You stay with me. Let me help you catch up on those subjects you lag behind in—you should be able to improve your scores very soon. When your mother sees it, she’ll be very happy.” She agreed, and her mother couldn’t agree with me more. So the child stayed with me.
Before that, I clarified the facts to Yiyi. She decided to quit the Young Pioneers, one of the CCP’s youth organizations. I told her, “Your mother is pitiful. In order to become successful and help you, she suffers and began taking medication. You not only don’t appreciate her, but hate her instead. Isn’t she truly pitiful!” Yiyi asked me, “Teacher, how come you are so different than my mother? You’re always so happy.”
I told Yiyi, “I practice Dafa and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Master taught us not to get upset, hate others, or resent anyone, but to put others before our needs when we do things. That’s why I’m always happy! How about if you practice Falun Dafa with me?” She immediately agreed.
We studied one chapter of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Dafa and recited a few poems in Hong Yin every day. I also taught her the exercises. When she saw me not put my legs down when we meditated, she also held the position for an hour despite the pain. Before she went to bed, she listened to podcasts about traditional Chinese culture, as well as experience sharing articles from young practitioners. I also talked to her about how to appreciate people and treat her parents kindly. Gradually, she began to let go of her resentment towards her mother.
After we studied the Fa for two weeks, I realized that her enlightenment quality was good. I read to her what Master said about committing suicide or doing euthanasia. She understood that committing suicide was a sin. Moreover, the souls of such people end up in a miserable situation, which meant that they would have nothing to eat, nothing to drink, no place to go, and be very lonely. She said, “I’ll never think about killing myself again. I was wrong.”
I said, “You should cheer up, be a good student at school, read the Fa, be a good daughter, treat your mother kindly and help save her. When you run into conflicts, you should look for what you’ve done wrong, as opposed to finding other people’s shortcomings.”
Gradually, she learned to measure herself against Dafa’s standards by looking at the Fa’s principles. She was happy and her test scores gradually rose. The scores in the three subjects she studied in the final exams were all above 95. When she returned home, she also cared about and looked after her mother.
When her mother saw the positive changes in her, she was very happy. She told me, “My child has gone through a tremendous transformation. Can I leave her with you in the future? Will you please look after her until she gets admitted to university? I truly appreciate what you have done for us.” I said, “Then can you please thank Master Li instead? It’s Master who saved her. Please thank him and Dafa.”
Hanhan is eight years old. During the pandemic, she played games on her cellphone, watched videos, movies, and virtually dated more than 20 people. She didn’t pay attention to studying at all. When her mother tried to stop her, she threatened to commit suicide by taking an overdose of medicine. Twice, when she opened up the bottle and wanted to take those pills, her grandmother caught her and took them away. Her mother was so upset that she had a relapse of her heart disease. Punishing Hanhan by either beating her or swearing at her didn’t work. Her mother decided to bring her to me.
I saw that Hanhan didn’t finish her assignments. Whenever I gave her a quiz, I realized that she didn’t know anything. I wanted to change her mindset. I was just kind to her and chatted with her in my free time. When we touched on the topic of watching videos, she told me about watching romantic movies and how she dated online. When we talked about love between a man and woman, she showed great interest. There was nothing positive in what she said. When she told me that she was going to commit suicide, I was in shock! She was so pitiful--and she was only eight years old!
I felt pained and knew I must help her! I talked to her about the harm of playing with one’s cellphone. I told her that negative substances manipulate you when use your phone, computer, and TV. They cause great harm to people. I told her about the sharp decline in human morality.
Hanhan asked me, “Is there still hope for me?” I replied, “Yes!” I then talked to her about the beauty of Dafa, and the fact that Master came to save people. Dafa has brought brightness to humankind by teaching people to follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be good people. Practitioners measure themselves with Dafa’s standards, instead of having others monitor them. People can also reach enlightenment by practicing Falun Dafa.
She asked, “Can I still practice? I’m a bad kid, will Master want me?” I replied, “Our Master is compassionate, as long as you sincerely want to change, he will help you.” So she gladly began to practice Dafa. When we read a passage of the Fa concerning killing and committing suicide, we talked about the terrible consequences of taking one’s own life. When she understood, she no longer wanted to do it.
Her mother took her home a month later. She called the next day and said happily, “She changed completely! As soon as she came home, she apologized to me. She also started looking after her grandfather and even cooked for him. She also did her own laundry.
“Hanhan not only stopped playing with her cellphone, but made sure that I stopped playing with mine too. She said cellphones are controlled by demons. She also stopped watching TV. She now helps out with household chores. She’s put her heart into studying. What caused the positive changes?”
I told her that her daughter transformed because she began practicing Falun Dafa. She knew to be a good person by following Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I said, “If you also practice Dafa, you’ll know how to bring up your child and do a good job like me just the same.”
Her mother took a copy of Zhuan Falun home that day and also quit the CCP and its youth organizations. She studied the Fa with Hanhan. Falun Dafa saved this family!
The most difficult child to deal with was a 5th grade student, Momo. Her mother is a single mother. During the pandemic, she took online courses. Momo shut the door and didn’t allow anyone to come in. She played with her iPad and cell phone. She didn’t work on her assignments, but paid her classmates so she could copy their answers. Her scores dropped dramatically, and her teacher often complained to her mother.
Momo was very ill-tempered. She didn’t want to be criticized and fought with her mother every day. Her mother was very upset. Momo once asked her mother, “If I die, what would you do?” Her mother said, “I have to carry on with my life. I have my parents to support.” At first, she ignored her daughter’s words.
Momo attempted to kill herself many times. She wrote letters to herself in WeChat, asking when she could die and she even posted a suicide note. She became more and more disturbed. She didn’t accept any criticism and had long temper tantrums. Her mother was so upset that she often cried.
Her mother was in tears when called me, “Please help me look after this child. I can’t take care of her any more.” I thought: Only Dafa can save her. So I said, “Sure, you can bring her over.”
Her arrival brought us much trouble. She not only didn’t study, but also watched pornographic movies in secret, or played games. She fought with everyone and tried to meddle with their affairs. She also stole elderly people’s food. There was nothing she wouldn’t do. Momo talked back to anyone who tried to scold her. She also wanted to commit suicide by jumping off a building, or by taking other children’s medicine.
Since she came, my home was a mess! My husband was so mad that he didn’t want me to keep her. He was afraid if something bad happened, we’d be responsible for the consequences. I could see that Momo was controlled by something. She was so pitiful, but she also came for Dafa. I’m a practitioner, if I didn’t save her, wouldn’t she be finished? Her mother was only in her 40s, how could she carry on with the rest of her life? It seemed difficult to save her, but even so, there was a path that I could take.
Master said,
“Mercy can melt heaven and earth into springRighteous thought can save people of the world” (“Fa Rectifies the Cosmos,” Hong Yin II)
I thought: With Master here, with the Fa here, what was I afraid of? I suggested she read Dafa books with me. When she was studying the Fa, she didn’t stop interfering with me. She also just went through the motions. I knew it was her thought karma interfering with her obtaining the Fa.
I had Momo listen to stories of traditional Chinese culture. I said a girl should respect herself; I then read for her the part of the Fa related to killing lives and committing suicide; I told her how to interact with others, and how to be respectful and tolerant of others.
I recited Hong Yin with her. We recited 10 poems every day. We also read one chapter of Zhuan Falun every day. During the time when she had classes, she did the exercises every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. During her school break, she did the exercises for two hours every day.
Within six months after she began studying the Fa, I was able to reason things out with her. Momo kept saying, “Thank you!” On the ninth month, she could sit still while studying the Fa. I also realized that she could measure herself against the standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She understood that fighting with others gives other people virtue, and bullying, swearing, and beating up others would do the same. She began helping her classmates with their studies.
Since Momo returned home, she has behaved very well. Her mother and grandparents began to praise her for being a good child. Because of her transformation, her mother also began practicing Dafa. Her grandparents even chose to quit the CCP.
One day, she suddenly pressed her cheek against mine and said, “Teacher, how come you are so nice to me? When I made you so upset, you still looked after me. Before that, I disliked you terribly. I now understand that you were truly kind to me. How come you are so kind to me?”
She asked me the same thing a few more times. I told her, “I’m a practitioner. Before we came to earth, we all vowed to save people and wake up each other.” Hearing that, she cried while holding me. Momo went from being a troubled child to being a reasonable and lovely young girl. She went from someone who wanted to end her life to being a cheerful person. Falun Dafa has saved one more child and one more family!
Thank you, Master! Thank you, Falun Dafa!