After Lingling ran away, her family immediately sought help through Weibo. Informed sources claimed that the school had once organized underachieving students to take a group photo as a "souvenir," and they had also suffered corporal punishment and verbal abuse from teachers.
The school administration denied the claim of "the bottom ten students in the class taking a group photo together." The principal stated that in the future, they would strengthen resilience education for the students.
From February 7th early morning to February 11th afternoon, for 107 hours, Lingling (a pseudonym), a girl from Huai Bin, was missing. She left a letter that resembled a will: "Dad, if there is another life, I wish to be your daughter again, but this time as a student with good grades..."
At 4 PM on February 11th, the reporter received a phone call from Lingling's relatives: "Lingling has been found! Everything is fine!"
Yesterday at noon, an informed source revealed to our newspaper: According to her understanding, the main reason for Lingling's running away was not completing one subject's homework, which led to her being verbally abused and physically punished by the teacher of that subject. She was afraid to see him. Subsequently, Huai Bin No.1 Middle School denied such an incident.
Finally, the child returned home safely, but as one netizen said: "The ones who should deeply reflect are us adults!" Are our expectations for children too high? Are the ways we educate our children too extreme? Is our education system still using academic performance and college admission rates as benchmarks? - Reporter Wu Yong
A 12-year-old girl missing for 107 hours
On February 11th at noon, after a seven-hour journey, the reporter arrived at Chengguan Town, Huai Bin County, Xinyang City.
By then, Lingling, a 12-year-old first-year junior high school girl, had been missing for four days. The reporter contacted Lingling's mother, Ms. Wan, whose voice sounded tired and anxious: "We're looking for her outside town, haven't found her yet." She didn't want to say more and hung up the phone.
The reporter then had to inquire about Lingling's whereabouts described in the lost person poster around Xinyang City, Huai Bin County.
Many residents, including tricycle drivers and egg pancake vendors, were aware of Lingling's disappearance.
At around 4 PM, the reporter finally managed to reach another phone number of Lingling's family. Mr. Li, who answered the phone, claimed to be Lingling's uncle-in-law: "She's been found! It was around 3 PM on February 11th, and she's fine."
Informed source reveals: Didn't complete winter vacation homework, afraid of seeing a "strict teacher"
After extensive inquiries, the reporter finally found an informed source, Zhang Han (pseudonym), who was related to the Wan family and well-versed in the matter.
Zhang Han said that the main reason for the child's running away was the teacher's verbal abuse and physical punishment.
"The day she ran away was the first day of school, when winter vacation homework was due," Zhang Han said. Lingling had completed all other assignments except for one.
Previously, Lingling had been publicly insulted and physically punished multiple times by the teacher of that subject. "Beaten on the face and head with a thin stick, while being scolded as a pig and a troublemaker."
Zhang Han said many people knew this teacher was very strict. She believed the teacher's intention was good, possibly trying to encourage and push the students harder, but even she couldn't tolerate it, let alone the children.
Regarding this statement, Principal Zhao Gang of Huai Bin No.1 Middle School said: According to his understanding, the teacher did not verbally abuse or physically punish the students. After the school investigated, they believed this teacher bore no responsibility for Lingling's running away and writing the "will."
Zhang Han also mentioned that although Huai Bin No.1 Middle School was a good school, some leaders and teachers overly pursued academic achievements and college admission rates, causing significant psychological pressure on the students.
She said that after every major exam, the school ranked all students based on their scores across the entire school. Besides Lingling, several students from Grade 9 (Junior 3) and other grades had also run away from home due to the pressure. However, the reporter could not find the contact information of these other students.
In response, Principal Zhao Gang said: In recent years, the school had not made college admission rates and exam scores the primary or sole focus of teaching. They advocated and implemented "harmonious development of body and mind, character, and knowledge." Knowledge and scores came after "body and mind" and "character."
During the 107 hours she was missing, she went to Xinyang City alone
With a farewell letter saying, "I feel very happy to be your daughter while I am alive," how did the 12-year-old Lingling spend these four days and four nights alone?
Did the "another world" she mentioned in her letter refer to another city, another kind of life, or death?
After two days of searching, the reporter ultimately refrained from meeting the pretty little girl due to concerns about disturbing her and her family's avoidance.
However, through Zhang Han's recounting, we might be able to understand Lingling's mental journey. Zhang Han watched Lingling grow up and had been searching for her alongside the Wan family for over four days.
She said Lingling was somewhat introverted and didn't talk much since childhood.
Previously, some classmates and teachers had mocked her because of her grades, which deeply saddened her. This was also reflected in Lingling's "farewell letter": "But I don't want to live like this, this kind of life is too bitter. Living in a world of mockery all the time, do you know how painful it is?"
After returning home, Lingling told her that on the morning of February 7th (the sixteenth day of the first lunar month), she stood at the entrance of No.1 Middle School, unable to move her legs. One piece of winter vacation homework was unfinished, and she kept imagining the teacher's pointer and reprimands, as well as the classmates' laughter and ridicule. She simply lacked the courage to face them again.
Wandering on the street for a while, Lingling unknowingly reached the county bus station.
Not knowing where the future lay, not knowing which direction to go, only knowing that she didn't want such a life anymore. In confusion, the girl boarded a long-distance bus to Xinyang City.
Zhang Han said Lingling only had over 100 yuan in her pocket, and the ticket to Xinyang cost 45~50 yuan. She really didn't know how Lingling spent these few days, and Lingling didn't want to talk about it either.
Until noon on February 11th, after wandering for four days and four nights, Lingling couldn't help but miss home.
For four days, cold waves had been affecting Xinyang, accompanied by rain and snow, making the weather increasingly colder. Lingling wanted to go home to get some clothes.
"At around 3 PM on the 11th, we finally learned that Lingling had returned to Huai Bin!" Zhang Han said. At the time, Lingling's parents and many relatives were desperately searching in various counties of Xinyang. A familiar person suddenly called them. He said Lingling had indeed returned, coming back from Xinyang with his daughter.
Huai Bin No.1 Middle School staff introduced that Lingling's parents both worked in the local education system, and her father was an official.
Zhang Han said that during these nearly five days, all relatives were extremely worried, and Lingling's parents were especially anxious and conflicted, experiencing a mix of emotions.
After the child returned home, her parents, older brother, and all relatives sincerely talked to her and comforted her. The child was now relatively calm.
After repeated communication and observation, the family believed that she currently had no suicidal tendencies and wouldn't develop any. However, many people were unaware of the various troubles and pressures buried deep within the child's heart.
The school denies that a teacher publicly insulted and beat a student
In the afternoon of yesterday, the reporter met Principal Zhao Gang at the principal's office of Huai Bin No.1 Middle School. Zhao, aged 51, has been teaching for 33 years and is a senior teacher.
He introduced that according to the school's investigation, Lingling's running away was not caused by the school or relevant teachers. Her homeroom teacher and related teachers had no responsibility or fault in this matter.
He said that on February 7th, Lingling didn't go to school at all. Therefore, it was impossible for her to leave because of not finishing her winter vacation homework and being punished by the teacher.
That morning, upon discovering Lingling's absence, the school immediately contacted her parents. By lunchtime, when the child still hadn't returned home, the Wans realized something was wrong and promptly notified the school and reported it to the police. Later, they found the letter in Lingling's drawer.
After the incident, Lingling's homeroom teacher quickly reported the situation, mobilized the entire class to provide clues, and maintained constant contact with Lingling's family.
As for the reasons behind Lingling's running away and "writing a will," Zhao Gang said he was unclear. The Wan family had never mentioned the "will" to the school; he only learned about it after it appeared online.
"Lingling usually performed and behaved well academically, though she was somewhat introverted."
Regarding the claims by Zhang Han and some informed netizens that a teacher at the school had publicly insulted and beaten Lingling, Zhao Gang stated that after the school's investigation, they found no such incident occurred. That teacher was described as "very excellent and highly responsible."
Why were Zhang Han and the netizens so certain? Zhao Gang said it might be due to misunderstandings or misheard rumors among the netizens.
Whether there was an event of underachieving students "taking commemorative photos," remains disputed between the school and relatives
Regarding the online report on February 11th about the "bottom ten students in Lingling's class taking a group photo together," with the blackboard behind them reading "Final Exam, I Want to Improve," Zhao Gang denied its occurrence.
"I saw the online photo, and there were only six children in the picture. How could this be the bottom ten?"
However, last night, Zhang Han told the reporter that after her confirmation, this group photo was indeed real. All the children in the photo, including Lingling, could be identified, and the large slogan on the blackboard was clearly visible and verifiable.
But the claim of "the bottom ten students taking a group photo" wasn't entirely accurate. The children in the photo were those who ranked below 1000 in the entire school exams. She believed this practice severely damaged the children's mental health.
In response, Zhao Gang said: He was unclear about how the online photo came about. Even if a teacher had done this, he believed it was a normal motivational measure. The slogan was meant to encourage children to work harder and didn't involve any insults or discrimination.
Zhao Gang said that after this incident, while investigating and verifying facts and searching for the student, he continuously reflected on a few points: First, the current resilience education for children was insufficient, and it should be strengthened in the future; Second, post-90s and soon-to-come post-00s middle school students were mostly single children. Many of them had particularly strong self-esteem and weaker abilities to withstand setbacks, which required middle schools to urgently strengthen the construction of class counselors or psychological counselors.