Controversy over 16-year-old girl forced by parents to drop out of school and work to support her family

Liu Qiping (born 2007, Hunan, China) was forced by his parents to drop out of high school because they thought studying was useless, costing a lot of money without bringing any value.

She confided her desire to return to school to a social media influencer. In a video that has attracted more than 1.3 million views, Liu said that despite her good academic performance, her parents forced her to drop out of school a year ago.

"I studied very hard to get into the city's top high school. During high school, I was always in the top 5 of my class, but my parents insisted on forcing me to drop out of school to work and send money home to support the family," Liu confided.

Bố mẹ ép con gái 16 tuổi bỏ học đi làm nuôi gia đình gây tranh cãi — Liu's story was widely shared on social media (Photo: Douyin).

Liu’s parents asked her aunt to take her to Guangzhou (Guangdong, China) to work at a breakfast shop. Most of the money she received had to be sent back to her parents to cover her daily living expenses.

Every day, Liu has to wake up at 3:30 am to make buns and soy milk. While the average salary in Guangzhou is 9,000 yuan (about 30.8 million VND), Liu is only paid 2,000 yuan (about 6.8 million VND) despite working hard.

Liu said she dreamed of going to Hunan Normal University and did not give up on her dream even when she was working at a restaurant. Liu secretly hid some money to buy textbooks and studied by herself after work every day.

After working at the restaurant for about 6 months, Liu managed to hide some of her own money and ran away and returned to her hometown. She did not dare to go home so she chose to rent a cheap apartment for about 300 yuan (one million dong) per month.

"My parents always thought that sending their daughter to school was an unnecessary waste of money. They wanted me to stop studying to go to work, help the family financially, and take care of my younger brother. When I didn't agree, my mother beat me, hid my clothes, locked me in the house, and didn't give me tuition... so I had to quit school.

I don't know why my parents treat me like that. Is it because I'm a girl that they don't respect or love me? I'm a girl, I can also study well and do things that boys can do," Liu confided.

After the incident went viral on social media, the relevant local government promised to visit her parents and try to persuade them to treat their daughter well and support her in her studies. In addition, the local education bureau responded to Liu's request and allowed her to return to her old school to continue studying.

Liu’s story quickly caught the attention and received a lot of attention in the online community. Many people confessed that they had gone through similar experiences and sympathized with the girl’s situation.

"It is not uncommon for girls to be forced to leave school early to save money and go to work to financially support their brothers. Gender discrimination has decreased but is still present in many families.

I myself have experienced the same situation as Liu and felt very sad. I wish Liu can persevere and make efforts to fulfill his dream," a social media user shared.

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