China Fahui | Helping Students Overcome Addiction to Mobile Phones

(Minghui.org) In China, non-boarding students usually go home in the middle of the school day to have lunch and take naps. To lessen parents’ burden, “Little Dining Table” businesses emerged to provide lunches and a nap place for school children. Some offered dinner and overnight stay as well. 

My family runs such a “Little Dining Table” business at home. As soon as the parents came with their children, they started complaining about their kids playing on mobile phones. I could understand their worries. 

Such cell phone addictions became even worse after the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, as children could only attend school online due to lockdown measures. Virtual classes significantly increased children’s screen time on mobile phones and computers.

The Internet nowadays has all sorts of things to attract people. Even the adults cannot resist it, not to mention children. Thus, some children’s grades slipped seriously, and their parents were worried and helpless.

Master said,

“As I was just saying, everything in this world is trying to entice you, to block you from gaining the Fa. And you’re not alone—most every parent in this world as well as government is aware of the problem, but everyone is powerless to do anything about it! And there’s not just the problem of blocking people from gaining the Fa: it leads people to do poorly at their jobs, to not learn well in their studies, and to waste vast amounts of time on the computer or with electronic devices. Those things are tempting you to watch and play with them. [People’s behavior is] not befitting of human beings anymore.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XIV)

I believe that the children who attended my boarding place must be predestined with Falun Dafa and I must help them break their addiction to cell phones. I taught the children to study Falun Dafa. During the holidays, I taught them the exercises and let them listen to Dafa disciples’ cultivation experiences. After studying the Fa, the children changed a lot, and they gained confidence. 

The following are the stories of two children.

Changes of Xinxin

Xinxin is a boy from a remote village. He came to my place in July 2019. He was in the fifth grade at that time. He did not like to study, and his grades were not good, not to mention extracurricular knowledge. He was extremely obsessed with computer games. He was not polite and liked to use swear words. His parents were busy farming and had no time to look after him. So they sent him to my place. 

When Xinxin first arrived, he immediately wanted to go home because there was no TV in my house and his parents confiscated his cell phone. He walked around the house all day long, scratching his head or twisting his clothes. He wanted to call his mother and his aunt, just to make trouble. 

I tried to teach Xinxin five monophonic phonetic symbols in the first week, but he did not learn any. He did not write or read for twelve days since he came. What he wanted was to play with his mobile phone.

I said to his aunt, “Xinxin was obsessed with his mobile phone. It will be very difficult to improve his grades in a short period of time. I believe it will be helpful to stabilize his mind if he can study Falun Dafa.” 

“Just let him study the Fa and other studies can wait,” his aunt said. 

Xinxin didn’t like to study the Fa at first. He made trouble and kept moving, especially while doing the exercises. One month later, he finally settled down and did not ask to play on his mobile phone. He could also sit in a full lotus posture for an hour. Even though his legs hurt so much, he would not take them down. 

Xinxin followed Falun Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to become a better person. He was more considerate of his parents and persistently studied very hard. 

As of today, Xinxin has finished memorizing almost all the poems published by Master (the founder of Falun Dafa) and he has also started to memorize Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa.

Xinxin takes the initiative to study the Fa every day, no matter how much school work he has. Master gave him wisdom and purified his body. 

Xinxin has changed. He was no longer a student with poor grades. He ranked the third in his class. He became a ninth grader this fall, and his goal is to enter the best high school (which covers grades 10-12 in China) in our area.

Now, Xinxin is very sensible and considerate of others. He is grateful to Master and Dafa.

Changes of Shuiling

Shuiling came to my house when she was five years old. I taught her to read Zhuan Falun word by word during her nap time. She was able to roughly read the book five months later.

By studying the Fa, this smart and lovely girl knew to be considerate of other people. She took care of her three-year-old brother. She did everything quickly like a grown-up. When she was in elementary school, she studied the Fa and did the exercises when she had time. Her academic grades were among the best.

When the pandemic broke out, Shuiling had just started middle school. She took classes online at home and started to play on her mobile phone, checking out WeChat (a social media platform), games, videos, and other bad things. 

She stopped studying the Fa and doing the exercises. Her grades dropped fast. At the same time, she became very vexatious and argued with her parents and younger brother. When her parents had to go out of town to work, they sent her to my place.

At that time, Shuiling was incomprehensible and cursed whenever she was not happy. Her face was pale with many dark spots. She cried every day. She didn’t eat well, sometimes one meal a day or nothing at all.

All other “Little Dining Table” businesses in my area were closed due to the pandemic. My place was the only one that remained open as my family offered overnight stay so children didn’t have to go home and come back. Shuiling cried and howled so loudly that I saw passers-by peek into my window. Nothing seemed to be able to calm her down. The more I tried to coax her, the worse she got. She was excited at night and slept on the couch when she was tired. She would cry again for the whole day after she woke up in the morning. 

Master said,

“I’d like to give you my take on what people normally refer to as “addiction.” In the medical sciences it’s believed that addiction occurs when the part of the nervous system associated with addictive behaviors is stimulated and develops to a sufficient degree. But that’s not it. What’s happening, then? Over time, that addictive substance accumulates, and forms inside of your body an identical version of you that comes to control you. Because it is composed of strong attachment, and has your appearance, it has an equally strong desire to control you; it was formed out of strong desires, after all.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2019 New York Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XV)

I tried to teach Shuiling the Fa, but she did not listen. On the third day, she picked up her suitcase and tried to run away. I called her mother to stop her, but she kept crying. She cried and followed me everywhere I went. When I taught other children, she shook the desks to interrupt my teaching. Two children did not dare to come because she made too much noise. She purposely opened the window so that people outside could hear her crying. In her mind, she would be able to go home and play on her mobile phone if my place got shut down.

Shuiling ran away on the afternoon of the seventh day, when I was in the restroom. I sent forth righteous thoughts for Shuiling and asked Master to protect her. She came back after 9 p.m. in the evening and stayed up until 3 a.m. She cried again in the morning when she woke up. She had played different tricks to get my attention. But I ignored her tricks. 

Shuiling signed up for a ten-day dance class. She behaved well on the way there every day, but she made trouble on the way back. I always brought her some delicious snacks when I picked her up after the class. Her trouble often started after she finished eating, sometimes half way done. She would sit on the ground and cry loudly. I stayed with her at the site and sent righteous thoughts for her.

Shuiling’s disturbances escalated ten days later. She banged on the headboard of the bed, the cabinet, and the wall. I did not get angry, no matter how badly she behaved. 

On one occasion, Shuiling grabbed my arm with both hands and squeezed hard for five hours, making my arm blue and purple. I sent righteous thoughts for her, but she did not stop. I told her mother what happened. 

Her mother said, “You have worked so hard on her and endured so much. I will let her grandma come to see her.”

I said, “Don’t do that! With her current state, the old grandma may not be able to handle her. If Shuiling wins, she will play on her mobile phone again and all our previous efforts would be wasted.”

I knew this was not what Shuiling wanted to do. She was manipulated by the evil, which tried every means to make me give up on her, but I wouldn’t be fooled. 

Master said,

“Mercy can melt heaven and earth into springRighteous thought can save people of the world” (“Fa Rectifies the Cosmos,” Hong Yin II)

Shuiling was also Master’s young disciple! I would treat her well and help her overcome this tribulation. Once she passed the test, the evil would have no place in her and she would be alright naturally.

Shuiling stopped crying on the twentieth day, but she still did not want to study the Fa or do the exercises. I motivated her with a trick, saying “Let us memorize the Fa, and you can test me.” She agreed and tested me every day.

A few days later, I was able to have her study the Fa together with me. Like this, Shuiling finally immersed herself in the Fa. Gradually, she proactively came to do the exercises with us.

Shuiling has changed very fast. As soon as she started to cultivate, her little face quickly turned rosy. Now, she is very cheerful and cries no more. She can recite the Fa very quickly. She has recited Zhuan Falun for the second time. She also has already recited all of Master’s poems in Hong Yin and Hong Yin (II through V).

It was Master who mercifully saved so many hopeless children like Shuiling! Our deepest thanks to Master and Dafa!