Pride in gift from dad prompts youngster to show off new coat at school. Boy just one of millions of so-called ‘left-behind children’ in China. — SCMP
The story of a six-year-old boy in China who proudly showed off a new coat bought for him by his single, migrant worker father to his classmates and teacher has delighted mainland social media.
His teacher, surnamed Wei, at a countryside primary school in central China’s Hunan province posted the moment of his happiness on Douyin, the mainland version of TikTok, using the account @Yaoyaofadainao on December 20.
“Check out my new coat. It’s from my dad,” the boy says in a video clip.
He then excitedly shows off the shiny black coat his father brought him during a short trip home. The boy adds that he got two new items of clothing and had put the other one in the room where he sleeps.
Wei said the child’s mother had remarried and left, adding that while his father is working the boy and his little sister live with their grandparents.
In China, youngsters in this position are known as “left-behind children”.
The country is home to more than 41 million such children, according to a 2020 report by Unicef based on data from the 2020 National Population Census.
The report highlighted that they are more inclined to suffer from hardship and discrimination in education and medical services, as well as experience mental health issues because their parents are not around to give them emotional support.
The boy’s happiness moved many people online.
“It was not the new coat he was flaunting. He was showing to his teacher and classmates that ‘my dad still loves me’,” said one person on Douyin.
“The parents migrated for work to provide their children with a better life,” said another.
Another recalled her own experience as a left-behind child.
“My classmate said to me one day that ‘people called you an orphan’. I was really sad. I knew my parents were working far away to make money, but I was really lonely,” she said.
In March, a migrant worker mother surprised her son at an event at his primary school.
She recorded and posted online the moment her son’s face lit up when he saw her, warming the hearts of many.
The mother from southwestern China’s Guizhou province said she had been working in another city for two years, and tried to come back home as often as possible.
She said she was a left-behind child herself, knows what it is like to miss your parents, adding that she did not want her children to experience what she went through. – South China Morning Post
