A Chinese mum became so exasperated while trying to help her son with his homework that she nearly died from a heart attack.
Picture the scene: you’re hunched over your desk, head in your hands as you march hopelessly on through your homework.
Your mum or dad offers to help, but inevitably, you come to blows. Whether you disagree with their solution, or you just don’t understand it, faces are turning red on both sides. For this mum though, the stress was nearly fatal.
The 36-year-old mother, known as Wang, has always taken in an interest in her third grade child’s education. Every night, at their home in Hubei, China, Wang sits down to help her son with his homework.
One night proved more difficult than ever before. She was trying to get her son to understand a maths problem, but he simply couldn’t grasp it.
As reported by Sin Chew Daily, Wang said:
I tried to explain it many times. But he still can’t answer correctly. I started getting angry and I felt like blowing up. Suddenly, I felt flustered and out of breath. I quickly called my husband and asked him to take me to the hospital.
The doctor who treated the 36-year-old later revealed that she had suffered from a myocardial infarction (another term for a heart attack). If she had been treated later, the doctor added she could have died from cardiac arrest.
The doctor explained:
This tends to happen to younger parents. If it’s not because of an unbalanced diet, then it is caused by psychological emotions. Most patients who have this problem are young mothers.
According to China Press, Wang had previously lost her temper while trying to assist her children with their academic difficulties, but she never expected to suffer something so severe as a result. She is still in hospital.
As written on The Conversation, ‘under the right circumstances, parents can help their kids learn more when they help with homework’. However, too much emotional attachment and a keenness to control the situation can have a negative effect.
One young boy figured out an easy way to skip the stressful debates over homework – just get Alexa to do it.
The young Scottish rascal (and innovator, if you ask me) used the Amazon device to complete his sums. Alas, his mum caught him red-handed.
Remember, homework isn’t worth so much stress.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.