Chinese boy walks to school at night

[Developereo]

Without an alarm clock, Chinese boy walks to school at night | News.com.au

WHEN a Chinese villager found a young boy wandering the streets of his small town on the morning of November 26, he immediately feared the worst. Had the boy's parents driven him out of the house? Was he a runaway?

As it turned out, Xing Yu's family was simply too poor to afford an alarm clock: Fearing that he would be late the next morning, he had walked in the middle of the night to get to school.

ChinaSMACK reports Xing, 6, was taken to a nearby police station, where an officer learned the boy’s mother had abandoned the family, leaving his father and sister with little money to survive on.

When his dad left for his night shift on November 25, Xing worried that, without an alarm clock, he would oversleep the next morning and arrive late to school. So he packed his books and began the 3-4 kilometre walk in the middle of the night.

The police officer contacted the boy’s school and his father, who immediately returned home to meet his son.

In a heartwarming twist, the officer returned the next day to give Xing an alarm clock.

“With this, I won’t have to worry about being late to school anymore,” he said, apparently choking with emotion.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

You should see the effort a lot of kids from the "remote areas" make to go to school.

They jump across chasms, climb sheer rock walls, basically risk their lives just to go to school. Their attitude towards education is so amazing.

 

[Developereo]

You should see the effort a lot of kids from the "remote areas" make to go to school.

They jump across chasms, scale sheer rock walls, basically risk their lives just to go to school. Their attitude towards education is so amazing.

Maybe they should give him a manual (wind-up) alarm clock (if they exist any more).

If they are so poor, I don't know how expensive is electricity/batteries in the villages.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Maybe they should give him a manual (wind-up) alarm clock (if they exist any more).

If they are so poor, I don't know how expensive is electricity/batteries in the villages.

Since we live in developed areas, it's hard to imagine people being unable to afford an alarm clock.

But it happens. Either they can't spare the money for it due to a bad family situation (as seems to be the case here), or they don't get it for other reasons.

"Remote areas" can be very remote in many cases, I saw a story on the news where an entire village of school children had to navigate a huge distance across crazy obstacles just to go to school. Thankfully, it was a boarding school so they only had to make the journey once in a while.

 

[Developereo]

Since we live in developed areas, it's hard to imagine people being unable to afford an alarm clock.

Well, that's the thing. Sometimes, we overlook things because they seem so trivial to us.

That's why I mentioned the cost of electricity/batteries. We don't even think about it, but the cost may stop the boy (or his father) from using the alarm clock.

 

[Kompromat]

Reminds me of my grandpa telling me how in the 1920s, he used to swim across the Jehlum river to study chapters of Mathematics.

God bless hard work.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Reminds me of my grandpa telling me how in the 1920s, he used to swim across the Jehlum river to study chapters of Mathematics.

God bless hard work.

And people always think their grandparents are exaggerating, but often they really are not.

When this kid becomes a grandparent, at least he will have this news story in the internet archives to convince his grand children that he really did have to do that to get to school.

 

[liall]

Reminds me of my grandpa telling me how in the 1920s, he used to swim across the Jehlum river to study chapters of Mathematics.

God bless hard work.

And the reason why most of the people were uneducated in sub continent during that era. Too much work just to get basic education

 

[Kompromat]

@Chinese-Dragon

My grandpa died after a career as an Educationist spanning from 1944 - 1987.

His students flooded his funeral. We 1000s of mourners in a period of 40 days.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

@Chinese-Dragon

My grandpa died after a career as an Educationist spanning from 1944 - 1987.

His students flooded his funeral. We 1000s of mourners in a period of 40 days.

He sounds like a great man. Education truly is the MOST important aspect of nation-building.

I heard similar stories from my parents and grandparents (though not as extreme as the one you mentioned). People often forget that Hong Kong was only rich quite recently, just a few decades back and it was undeveloped.

Even today, there are areas in the New Territories that look almost undeveloped.

 

[Ayush]

thanks for sharing

 

[Developereo]

thanks for sharing

Yeah. He's a cute kid, too!

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Yeah. He's a cute kid, too!

Only 6 years old as well. Really incredible.

 

[Kompromat]

He sounds like a great man. Education truly is the MOST important aspect of nation-building.

I heard similar stories from my parents and grandparents (though not as extreme as the one you mentioned). People often forget that Hong Kong was only rich quite recently, just a few decades back and it was undeveloped.

Even today, there are areas in the New Territories that look almost undeveloped.

When i was born my grandpa was retired. He homeschooled me until i was 7. Teaching me languages and maths. I can read and write 5 languages and speak 4 with absolute fluency.

He was my best friend and i didn't realize how old he was. For me he was just a friend who would teach me during the day, have me sit and see how he solved people's issues as he was a local elder, he taught me to ride a horse, shoot a crossbow, a gun, hunt, ride a bicycle and at nights he'd tell me stories about great men, heros, kings and about the creation of our nation. About his hindu friends coworkers..as i'd be hiding with him in his bed with my teeth knocking of the freezing weather.

He said to me once, 'Men are born as dumb as donkies, education makes them human.'

He left me a great deal of old books and a never ending inspiration.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

When i was born my grandpa was retired. He homeschooled me until i was 7. Teaching me languages and maths. I can read and write 5 languages and speak 4 with absolute fluency.

He was my best friend and i didn't realize how old he was. For me he was just a friend who would teach me during the day, have me sit and see how he solved people's issues as he was a local elder, he taught me to ride a horse, shoot a crossbow, a gun, hunt, ride a bicycle and at nights he'd tell me stories about great men, heros, kings and about the creation of our nation. About his hindu friends coworkers..as i'd be hiding with him in his bed with my teeth knocking of the freezing weather.

He said to me once, 'Men are born as dumb as donkies, education makes them human.'

He left me a great deal of old books and a never ending inspiration.

I wish I had that kind of relationship with my grandparents. That sounds really inspiring.