(Minghui.org) One evening in October 2010, I was at the door of my apartment building, when I saw my son running downstairs without a shirt on. I opened the door, then shocked to see blood on his face and body. His arm was wrapped in a bandage. He told me that he'd gotten into an argument about seats with another student on the school bus. The student stabbed him with a knife, then a teacher on the bus stopped him.
I was saddened to hear this, since my son is a Falun Dafa practitioner and shouldn't have been involved in this argument. On the other hand, it was sorrowful to see the moral deterioration of the younger generation. My son said, “The teacher would like you to go to the school tomorrow and tell them your requests. She also told me to bring my medical bill to school for reimbursement.”
I told him, “We are Dafa practitioners. Do you think I'm going to your school tomorrow to seek justice and ask for compensation? I won't go for these reasons, but will make an apology instead.” My son didn't reply. I added, “We cultivate ourselves in Falun Dafa according to Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. How well did we follow these principles? What should we do? Think about it.” The next morning, my son said, “Mom, what you said last night is right. I can see where I fell short.”
We went to my his school, and while waiting for the school director, my son asked, “Mom, what do you want to say to them? Don't tell them we practice Falun Dafa.” I asked, “Why?” He answered, “Nothing. Just don't tell them.” “Are you afraid of the school finding out we are Falun Dafa practitioners?” I said, “Don't be afraid. What we do is most righteous. What's there to be afraid of? I'm here to validate Dafa.”
The school director took us to his office and asked my son to explain what had happened. The director said, “The school will punish that student. I would like to hear if you have any particular requests. You can certainly bring your son's medical bill for reimbursement.” I replied, “Mr. Chen, the reason why my son and I are here today isn't to ask for compensation. We are Falun Dafa practitioners (he was quite startled by this). First, I would like to apologize for my son's behavior. As a parent, I should have done a better job with his discipline.” Mr. Chen said, “Don't apologize! We should have done a better job.”
I turned to my son, “Son, you should apologize too. Dafa taught us, 'As a practitioner, the first thing you should be able to do is to not fight back when you are beaten or sworn at—you must be tolerant. Otherwise, what kind of practitioner will you be?' (from Zhuan Falun). You didn't do well this time, but your mother trusts that you'll learn from this lesson and do better next time.” My son said, “Mr. Chen, I'm sorry for bringing you so much trouble! I will certainly do better next time.”
The school director said, “I have been working here for many years. This is the first time I've met such a noble parent and student! It must be the result of your cultivation practice. You should learn from your mom and continue to cultivate yourself. As for the other student, the school will punish him based on school rules.” I asked Mr. Chen if I could meet the other student. He agreed and shook hands with me before we left.
When my son and I reached the school gate, the guard asked us to wait, because Mr. Chen had the other student and his parents coming to see us. The guard told us the other student would probably be expelled.
I greeted the student and his parents with a smile as they approached us. The student apologized to me, “I'm very sorry, ma'am! I couldn't control myself yesterday!” He told my son, “I'm very sorry, buddy!” I replied, “Don't worry, I won't blame you. I'm a Falun Gong practitioner. My son didn't behave well either. Do you already have regrets? Have you heard people say that a demon is controlling you when you can't control yourself? When you act out of impulse, isn't it easy do wrong and irrational things?” He answered, “Yes.” I said, “That's OK, you're a good boy if you know what you did was wrong and want to correct it.” The student started to cry.
His teacher came over and informed me that Mr. Chen said that the school would punish the student. I told his teacher, “He has already admitted his wrongdoing. You don't have to give him a harsh punishment. I didn't intend to request anything today. I'm a Falun Dafa practitioner. We look for our own faults when such things happen. The purpose of punishment is to stop them from making the same mistakes again. Since he's regretted the incident, it's not necessary to punish him any more.”
I also encouraged the two boys to learn how to be tolerate and be considerate of others. The other students' parents took out money to pay for my son' medical bill and to buy nutritional items for his recovery. I didn't take the money. I told them, “Falun Dafa practitioners cultivate Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. We put others in front of ourselves. I hope that our kids will learn from this lesson and be friends with each other.”
The school guard who witnessed our conversation kept nodding and gave us a thumbs-up. The two boys shook hands and became friends again.
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
