Student Threatens Suicide After Teacher Confiscates Phone

By Ryan Gandolfo

A high school student in Hunan dropped out of school on October 15, just days after her phone was confiscated.

On October 12, Xiao Yang lent her phone to a friend to play games during their lunch break. The head teacher then confiscated the phone from the classmate. The girl visited the teacher later that day to ask for her phone back, but the teacher was unwilling due to a school ban on student mobile phones, according to South China Morning Post.

The tenth-grader then wrote the teacher a chilling letter, threatening to take her own life if her phone wasn’t returned to her.

Image via 今日女报/Weibo

We’ve translated the student’s letter below:

“Teacher Guo, I know you are a very reasonable person, and I know I was wrong in not handing over my phone, but you should think this over. Before I would often go out and play, so my dad bought me [the phone]. Now I’ll just ask if you'll give my phone back. If not, I'll go kill myself. If you aren't afraid of getting in trouble, then I dare you to try. If you have a solution then come to find me. In any case, I don’t really care… You have the capability, and if you don’t give it back we will just wait and see! I hope you don’t call my parents as this is our matter and we can resolve it on our own. I’m not threatening you, you forced me to do this.”

The teacher ultimately returned the phone and also informed the student’s parents, who work in Guangdong, a six-hour drive from the school.

Meanwhile, the vice principal of the school, after receiving the letter from the teacher, had a strong message for Xiao Yang, writing “your words, your actions are so extreme, you’d give up a young and healthy life all because of your phone, even threaten a teacher, do you think this behavior is right?”

On October 15, Xiao Yang deferred her studies at the school, with her mother by her side. Her father told Women Today Weekly that he “hopes his child will come to her senses and go back to school.”

There has been speculation online whether the student has mental health issues but none can be confirmed.

[Cover image via 湖南日报/Weibo]

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