Recently I read a shocking story online, which goes something like this: A college graduate was found dead in his own home after living idly for 14 years.  As it turned out, he died of self-inflicted starvation, but not for the purpose of losing weight. He just couldn’t be bothered to make a living.

The young man was called Wang Xiaolin, who was the first to enter a college in his village. According to his former teachers, he used to be an excellent student, smart and hardworking. He was monitor for quite a few years and received various honors in his primary and middle school years. Naturally he was considered a hero in his home village.

After graduation, he once worked in a secondary technical school. But he had some conflicts with the principal and resigned. Then he lived with her mom, unwilling to go looking for a new job. He seldom helped her mother with farm work or housework. Later his mother went to live with her daughter after being beaten to bone fracture in a big quarrel with her son. He mostly ate raw vegetables from the fields or bought some food in the store with the money given by his sister or neighbors.

I was saddened at the news. How could a young man, a well-educated person, die in such a way? Life is precious and can never be retrieved. It is not just a personal loss but the whole society’s loss as well. Just imagine how much a family and the society have to devote to bringing up a person from baby to adult.

At the same time, I just can’t help but ask: Is there something wrong with the family education, school education and our society? I think we can’t just blame him for his being lazy. How should we cultivate a person? Is it wise to focus only on students’ grades? How should we train a kid to be a full person? Refusing to work and choosing to live such a life was his personal choice, but I think we can’t say there’s no connection between this particular case and the whole education system.

We tend to care more about one’s knowledge, ability and material achievements. But what is the value of a capable person if something is wrong with his mind? A disease can be treated and in most cases can be cured with modern technology and advanced medicine. However, there’s really not much you can do if one’s mind goes wrong. I can’t figure out the exact causes of his abnormal behaviors. Is it a face issue that he was unwilling to try new jobs? Is it a problem of communication? How can we prevent similar tragedies from happening again? To save one’s soul is far more difficult than to save one’s life!