Frustrated China mother has meltdown while helping son with homework, wants to kick someone, hits wall and breaks toe
- Mother wearing slippers, lashes out, hits wall, and bone breaks instantly scaring son
- Ordeal resonates with other parents who call this feeling ‘fear of tutoring syndrome’
A mother in China became so frustrated while helping her son do his homework that she tried to kick him but hit the wall instead and fractured her toe.
The woman, surnamed Zhang, from Nanjing, Jiangsu province in southeastern China, lost control of her emotions and lashed out while wearing slippers, according to a report by Guo Jia She Qu, a multimedia outlet in the northern province of Hebei.
“His homework was dragging on, and I got so angry that I wanted to kick him, but I ended up kicking the wall instead. My little toe broke instantly,” said Zhang.
“My son was quite scared and immediately called his father.”
Images shared online show Zhang’s right little toe turned outwards, almost at a 45-degree angle.
X-rays confirmed a fracture, and during hospital checks and treatment, her right foot was bandaged.
Following the incident, Zhang enrolled her son in an after-school tutoring class.
Her ordeal resonated with many parents in similar situations, who refer to the feeling of frustration as “Fear of Tutoring Syndrome”.
“Helping children with homework has become a high-risk job. It’s like a modern form of torture,” one person wrote online.
“That was a fierce kick. The mother must have lost her sanity at that moment, just wanting to explode and vent,” said another.
“Seeing this X-ray makes my toes hurt. It is very easy to get annoyed while supervising homework, so now I choose to watch dramas in the living room. My child calls me to check his work after he has completed it,” said a third.
“As a parent, I totally understand that feeling of going crazy and breaking down, but we still need to control ourselves. Sending them to after-school class to do their homework is like spending life-saving money,” another person said.
The phenomenon of parents in China melting down during home tutoring sessions often captivates people online.
In July last year, a mother from eastern China was captured on video repeatedly and violently beating her son during a homework session. She then slapped herself on the face and screamed in rage.
In another incident in September 2021, a man from central China became so angry while tutoring his daughter that he dislocated his jaw.
