Recently, I have encountered three consecutive cases involving psychological issues among minors. Two of these cases have already resulted in tragic outcomes, while the third is still in its early stages.

Three Cases

1. High School Student
   A 17-year-old high school senior committed suicide after consistently performing poorly in mock exams, leading to a mental breakdown.

2. Elementary School Student
   A 9-year-old fourth-grade student jumped to his death at school for unknown reasons.

3. Elementary School Student
   A 6-year-old first-grade student, who was mischievous at school, faced pressure from the school to transfer. However, several schools refused to accept him.

Family Education is the Main Issue

These three cases all occurred within the past month. Some were cases I personally handled, while others happened within my social circle. They have deeply affected me, especially the two cases involving elementary school students, who are the same age as my own children. This has forced me to re-examine my understanding of family education.

Family Backgrounds

1. Family of High School Student A
   A’s parents both work in government institutions. He is their only child, and the family atmosphere is quite serious, with high expectations placed on him. A entered high school with a score 27 points above the key school admission line. In his first year, he ranked around 70th in his grade, and in his second year, he ranked between 20th and 30th. However, in the recent two mock exams, his rankings dropped to 210th and 273rd. According to his father, A has been attending various tutoring classes and online courses since middle school. At one point, he wanted to study art and pursue a career as an art student, but his parents insisted he remain an academic student. A’s classmates reported that he was not involved in any romantic relationships at school. At the time of the incident, A’s parents were not at home. Surveillance footage shows him taking the elevator alone to the top floor of his apartment building and jumping.

2. Family of Elementary School Student B
   B’s father works at a real estate company, and his mother is a stay-at-home mom raising two children, both delivered via C-section. B’s mother lost her parents when she was ten and was raised by her grandmother and other relatives. Her older sister took her to work when she was about 18, and she is closest to her sister. B’s father married into her mother’s family. He is introverted and doesn’t talk much. B’s uncle also married into the family. On the day of the incident, B’s mother had scolded him in the morning, possibly out of fear of being scolded again when he returned home. In the afternoon, before school ended, B climbed over the railing and jumped. His mother was waiting outside the school gate at the time.

3. Family of Elementary School Student C
   C’s father works in a government institution, and his mother is a stay-at-home mom. During a school interview, C initially refused to enter the campus, climbing onto a pillar and the access control gate. His parents couldn’t control him. After touring the campus, C’s parents insisted he take an entrance test, but he resisted. Eventually, his mother had to guide him through the test in the classroom. C’s father is often too busy with work to spend time with his children. C is the second child, with a much older sister who is already working. C’s parents described him as mischievous at school, not following rules, not getting along with classmates (pulling their clothes), frequently getting into conflicts, and being easily distracted in class. During the interview, C’s mother often yelled at him, but he didn’t listen. The interview result: the school recommended not admitting him.

Analysis of Family Education Deficiencies

These three families share common deficiencies in family education, such as excessive focus on academic performance, lack of effective communication, neglect of mental health, and insufficient emotional support. These deficiencies may lead children to feel helpless and desperate when facing academic and emotional pressures, resulting in extreme actions.

1. Family of High School Student A

• Excessive focus on academics: The parents were overly concerned with A’s academic performance, neglecting his mental health and emotional needs.
• Lack of effective communication: There was a lack of effective communication within the family, leaving A without understanding or support when facing academic pressure.
• Disregard for personal choices: The parents tried to dictate A’s future, failing to respect and support his interests.
• Insufficient emotional support: A felt lonely and helpless when facing academic setbacks, but his parents failed to notice and provide emotional support in time.

2. Family of Elementary School Student B

• Lack of emotional education: B’s mother may have been deficient in emotional education, failing to guide the child in handling emotional issues.
• Poor communication: There was a lack of communication within the family, leaving B feeling helpless and fearful when scolded by his mother.
• Neglect of mental health: B’s mother may have overlooked his mental health issues, failing to notice and intervene in his emotional struggles.
• Insufficient emotional support: B felt isolated and unsupported when facing family conflicts, lacking emotional support and a sense of security.

3. Family of Elementary School Student C

• Inappropriate educational methods: C’s mother often yelled at him, failing to effectively guide him in correcting behavioral issues.
• Lack of emotional support: C may have felt a lack of emotional support and understanding at home, leading to poor performance at school.
• Neglect of mental health: C’s parents may have overlooked his mental health issues, failing to notice and intervene in his emotional struggles.
• Lack of effective communication: There was a lack of effective communication within the family, leaving C without understanding or support when facing behavioral issues.

School Education Also Falls Short

In the above three cases, school education has the following issues:

1. Excessive academic pressure: Schools place too much emphasis on academic performance, leading to immense psychological pressure on students.
2. Lack of mental health education: Schools fail to pay attention to students’ mental health issues, neglecting to identify and intervene in emotional struggles.
3. Insufficient emotional support: Schools overlook students’ emotional needs, failing to provide adequate emotional support and care.
4. Poor communication between school and home: There is a lack of communication between schools and parents, leading to a failure to understand students’ family backgrounds and psychological states in time.
5. Inadequate safety management: Schools have loopholes in safety management, failing to prevent accidents on campus.

Ultimately, schools have significant deficiencies in fulfilling their educational responsibilities. For example, when dealing with a mischievous 6-year-old, instead of making efforts to guide the child’s growth, the school often resorts to complaining to the parents, calling them to the school, or even encouraging them to transfer the child to another school to avoid responsibility. If schools adopt such an attitude, mischievous children might as well not attend school at all. After all, if School A doesn’t want to take responsibility, why would School B?

A Few Criticisms of Public Schools

Over the years, I have developed some biases against public schools. These mainly include: First, public schools operate under a “big pot” system, where salaries are determined by rank and title, regardless of whether it’s a key school or an ordinary one. For many teachers, it’s preferable to find a less demanding position rather than take on more responsibility. Second, public schools focus on completing assigned tasks, treating the fulfillment of minimum responsibilities as the norm. They follow the standardized curriculum, teaching only what is required, and if students don’t understand, it’s not the teacher’s problem since they’ve already completed their teaching duties. Third, public schools exhibit obvious bureaucratic tendencies, with a focus on pleasing superiors rather than addressing reality. I often hear parents complain about public schools engaging in formalism to meet inspections, frequently requiring parents to sign various responsibility forms, demanding that all parents wear white shirts and black pants for parent-teacher meetings, and assigning tasks to parents in class groups as if they were subordinates, often calling parents to the school for trivial matters.

Of course, I believe that the majority of teachers are caring, dedicated, and willing to contribute. I have always held the teachers who guided me in my own educational journey in high regard, as I was able to progress from a remote rural elementary school to university, which was a transformative experience. However, twenty years later, the public education system I see today is riddled with contradictions and too many practical issues that need to be addressed.

Here are a few simple examples:

1. In a county, apart from the top high school, do other high school teachers have the confidence and determination to help underperforming students improve?
2. In a county’s rural middle schools, do teachers have the confidence and determination to help more students get into high school, rather than relying on a few quota students to maintain the high school admission rate?
3. In a county’s rural schools, how many teachers are willing to stay and contribute to rural education, rather than constantly seeking to return to the county town?

I think even if I were in their position, I would find it difficult to answer these questions positively.

Looking back at the rural area in central Hunan where I grew up, over the years, apart from the top high school in the county, other public high schools have declined, losing the drive they had 20 years ago. In the 1980s and 1990s, the county’s second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth high schools all produced students who were admitted to Tsinghua and Peking Universities, collectively rivaling the top high school.

But now, they have all declined.

Additionally, the county education bureau transfers a large number of key teachers from rural areas to the county town every year, further accelerating the decline of rural education.

As a result, countless parents are desperate to send their children to private schools in the county town.

Of course, this is something local governments are happy to see, and even actively promote.

But that’s another story.