Is it safe for parents to study in America?

When I went abroad, my parents were most worried about American security. Among those unofficial history movies, news reports and hearsay related to American life, various criminal cases in the United States make relatives across the sea worried. Even the slightest sign of American policy toward China will worry relatives. Like parents in those days, today's parents still have the same doubts: Is it safe for children to study in the United States?

Like all countries in the world, America is not a safe place. Natural and man-made disasters, accidents, shootings and robberies all happened in this free country. Just as it is difficult for ordinary people to predict the rise and fall of the stock market, it is estimated that no one has come to a conclusion about how safe life in the United States is. If I ask how safe it is for children in China to go to kindergarten, can you give an accurate answer? Who can predict when and where the murderer will extend the butcher knife to the innocent children in kindergarten?

I once lived in St. Louis, the most dangerous city in America, for eleven years. Even in such a city, I don't feel any signs of danger in my daily travel. In the eighth issue of JAMA this year, I saw such a set of data: among the seven-year-old children in Philadelphia, 75% have heard gunshots, 6 1% are worried that they will be murdered, and 18% have seen bodies in residential areas. When I went to Philadelphia recently, I really couldn't equate the quiet street scene with this set of data. Where are the gunshots in Philadelphia? This is not good.

After all, what we can experience when tourists visit the scenery or live at home is only the superficial phenomenon of the city. Cities like Philadelphia always attract special attention. Last year (2009) 65438+February 7th According to the American World Journal, on the 3rd, another incident of African-American students attacking Asian students occurred in South Philadelphia High School, resulting in 26 students being injured, 7 of whom needed medical treatment, most of whom were children of new immigrants from Fuzhou, China? . In downtown St. Louis, there was a tragedy in which a pregnant woman was disembowelled. Seeing these shocking news, domestic parents are particularly worried about the safety of their children studying abroad, which is very understandable. The mother was worried when the child was far away.

More than three years ago, Seung-Hui Cho, a young Korean, shot at Virginia Tech University in the United States, which was a bloody case that attracted worldwide attention. Up to now, everyone still remembers it. Yesterday, another shooting happened in front of the Perry-Castaneda Library of the University of Texas in Austin. Such blatant bloody violence is similar to the 9 1 1 tragedy in new york, USA. After all, it is a special case under special circumstances. No one wants this kind of thing to happen, but once it happens, no one can do anything about it.

Small international students come to study in the United States. Due to the limitation of life circle, they may not be exposed to the vicious crimes in American society. I don't think parents should worry too much about this. But even the step-by-step study abroad life does hide the dangerous factors of instability. These concerns without bullets are also worthy of parents' attention.

Children who have just come to the United States for high school cannot talk fluently when expressing their immature ideas because of their limited language ability. They are laughed at, misunderstood and even bullied from time to time. American schools often mention zero tolerance for bullying to the effect that bullying is not allowed in schools. After all, this silent violence that harms children's physical and mental health will not cause obvious bloodshed for the time being, but its long-term harm cannot be ignored.

It is never a good thing for children in the United States or China to be bullied. Victims will be timid, feel inferior, affect their grades, avoid socializing or resist excessively, suffer from mental illness and even commit suicide. According to common sense, children in China who are unhappy because they are not adapted to American high schools are more likely to be threatened by depression than children born and raised in the United States. Even American children have committed suicide because of depression. A boy from China remarried to the United States with his mother in St. Louis, and suffered from depression before graduating from high school. In order to adjust his body and mind, he had to take a year off school and go back to China to recuperate so that he could fight again next year. It can be said that the physical and mental health of international students is as important as their homework, or even slightly better. To put it more bluntly, if an overburdened child chooses to give up his life in a foreign country, can China's parents live a long life across the sea?

In addition, another safety hazard for small international students is traffic. When I was studying at Ohio University, there was a vicious traffic accident on this campus. One night, five foreign students from South Korea had an accident while driving under the influence of alcohol. Only one person survived the car accident. What a pity that these children in their early twenties were killed not by bullets from American criminals, but by their own wheels.

Children who have just gone abroad love to get together, have fun, and have fun. After my little foreign students went abroad, I told them that when we go out together, we must concentrate on driving, don't be distracted, don't drive after drinking, and don't send text messages on our mobile phones while driving. Don't forget, children, safety comes first. Eight states in the United States prohibit the use of mobile phones while driving. Young international students must do as the Romans do and obey the law. If nothing else, think about your own life safety.

The last hidden danger I can think of is the problem of making friends with young international students. You must remember that there is a boy student named Zhu Haiyang in America. One day, while experiencing OBE, he ruthlessly killed Yang Xin, a female student who had just arrived in the United States. The warning effect of this vicious incident on small international students is obvious. Choose friends and make friends, don't go astray and lose your precious life.

When I was working at the University of Washington, Joan, an old American woman who worked in the same laboratory as me, experienced the tragedy of losing her beloved daughter. Joan's daughter is charming and likes to drink with the man at the same table in the bar until she gets as drunk as a fiddler. One day, Joan's daughter unfortunately met a demon with mental illness in a bar. Joan's daughter was killed by this demon after refusing the other party's sexual request. Because this is Joan's private affair, we can't ask too much about the details of the devil's violence, but this is really a true story that happened to Americans.

Girls who come to the United States to study alone will be lonely and homesick, and I have experienced that suffocating moment myself. The more times this happens, the less girls can make friends with the opposite sex. Live a simple life, concentrate on reading, and make yourself strong inside, all of which can avoid the tragedy of meeting inappropriate people. Girls should be smart, smart, sensitive and have a dangerous sixth sense. Don't be confused and die in the hands of others.

Letting children study in the United States alone is like sending kites into the blue sky. As long as they can escape the once-in-a-century storm, as long as their parents can always hold the thread in their hands, children can dance in the air to their heart's content. After the storm, it is a rainbow. I survived, countless foreign students, men and women, and today's children will survive.