A boy in eastern China dropped out of school after earning 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) in just 10 days, a decision influenced by his mother, who initially encouraged him to sell snacks to instil an understanding of hard work and its inherent challenges.
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In an interview with the Post, the mother, surnamed Deng, said she concocted the plan when her 17-year-old boy’s grades at a culinary arts and vocation school began to slip.
When she confronted him about the poor performance, her son, Shen, told her that he “didn’t want to go to school anymore” because “studying is meaningless”.
Deng, who had been selling fried chicken at a street stall in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, for more than three years, believed that exposing her son to the realities of a challenging work environment would motivate him to take his education more seriously.
“He didn’t want to face the struggles of school, so I wanted him to tackle the challenges of real life instead. Making money isn’t easy,” she said.