Better Believe It......Because They Actually Happen(ed) Collection 61
‘Little hero’: US boy stops school bus when driver passes out


• Dillon Reeves, 13, grabbed the steering wheel and hit the brakes as the vehicle – carrying dozens of other middle-schoolers – veered towards oncoming traffic
• A video shows the driver fanning herself with a baseball cap and saying she needs to pull over before she loses consciousness

Student Dillon Reeves grabs the steering wheel on his school bus and hit the brakes after the driver passed out Wednesday. Photo: Warren Consolidated Schools via AP


A boy grabbed the steering wheel on a school bus and hit the brakes, bringing the vehicle to a safe stop on a busy Detroit-area road after the driver had passed out, authorities said.

“Someone call 911. Now!” seventh-grader Dillon Reeves shouted to dozens of other middle-school kids on the bus Wednesday.

Dillon was hailed as a hero: He stopped the bus as it was veering toward oncoming traffic.

“In my 35-plus years of education, this was an extraordinary act of courage and maturity on his part,” said Robert Livernois, superintendent of Warren Consolidated Schools.

The incident was recorded on a video camera just above the driver. The video shows the driver fanning herself with a baseball cap and informing the transportation office that she needs to pull over.

Seconds later, Dillon jumped into action, hitting the brake pedal and clutching the steering wheel.

Full story at South China Morning Post (April 2023)



Girl, 16, who took her own life at £40,000-a-year school became 'hyper-fixated' after being given her first-ever detention – and left a heartbreaking diary note to her friends, her devastated family reveal


• Caitlyn Scott-Lee, a Year 11 pupil, was found dead at Wycombe Abbey School
• Her father says her autism meant she 'hyper-fixated' on upcoming detention
• For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or go to samaritans.org

By Elena Salvoni


The father of a 16-year-old schoolgirl who took her own life at a top boarding school has revealed that his daughter, who had autism, became 'hyper-fixated' on her first-ever detention before her death.

Caitlyn Scott-Lee, a talented Year 11 pupil, was found in a wooded area near a playing field at £44,000-a-year Wycombe Abbey School last Friday night - the day before the dreaded punishment.

Her father Jonathan has revealed that his daughter made a heartbreaking final diary entry in which she thanked her friends for their love, wished them luck and said goodbye.

In the final note, seen by The Sunday Times, Caitlyn described how she had run away from a school trip to Eton College as a 'cry out for help'. Written the night before her death, it reportedly read: 'I hope this is my last diary entry. I want to kill myself tomorrow.'

Caitlyn Scott-Lee, a student in year 11, was found in a wooded area near a playing field


Caitlyn's last journal entry, written in neat cursive, highlights how the detention had been playing on her mind over the Easter break.

'Running away was the best cry out for help I could give and you [Wycombe] responded with "we'd normally punish you but you're already getting punished".'

She took her own life the next day, just hours before she had been due to receive a two-hour punishment known as a 'headmistress's detention'.

The teenager, who was set to take her GCSEs soon, had been reprimanded after vodka and a tattoo kit had been found in her locker before the school holidays.

Full story at Daily Mail (April 2023)



Second Michigan school district bans backpacks due to gun concerns


A third-grader was found with a loaded gun this week, the fourth time this year the district has uncovered a student with a gun

There is an increased concern over guns in schools in Michigan after a mass shooting by a 15-year-old student at Oxford high school in 2021 left four students dead and seven injured. Photograph: Caia Image/Getty Images/Collection Mix: Subjects RF


A second Michigan school district has banned backpacks on school premises due to concerns about gun violence, after a third-grade student was found with a loaded gun.

Grand Rapids public schools said on Wednesday the weapon was discovered that morning at Stocking elementary school.

It was the fourth time this year the district has uncovered a student with a handgun – three of them in backpacks.

The district superintendent, Leadriane Roby, told reporters the ban was “a drastic step” but necessary.

“We have averted at least two tragedies in the last two weeks,” said Larry Johnson, executive director of public safety and school security.

“We don’t want to stand before you again.”

Full story at The Guardian (May 2023)



Kindergarten teacher earns 10 years' worth of salary in a day from livestream, resigns job


Screenshot from Douyin


The Internet can be a gold mine of opportunities for some, as the power of a viral post can sometimes open many lucrative doors.

A kindergarten teacher struck gold online after videos of her teaching children a nursery rhyme on the Chinese social media platform Douyin went viral, which prompted her to resign after earning 10 years worth of her salary from one livestream.

An article by Oriental Daily reported that the preschool educator surnamed Huang, based in Wuhan City, China, became an overnight sensation with her nursery rhyme video amassing over 100 million views, thanks to her charming gestures and attractive gestures features which has attracted over 4.3 million fans.

With Huang’s newfound fame, many netizens have encouraged her to try out livestreaming, which became a hit, with netizens flooding in, sending her rewards on her livestream amounting to nearly 500,000 yuan (RM320,870.18) in a single day.

As a kindergarten teacher in Wuhan earns 3,000 yuan a month, the livestream profits in one day were equivalent to 10 years of Huang’s income, which encouraged her to resign as a kindergarten teacher. It is also understood that she earned 2 million yuan (RM1.28 million) from three livestreams.

Full story at The Sun Daily (May 2023)



Winnie-the-Pooh book teaches kids to ‘run, hide, fight’ in a shooting


By Daniel Wu


The “Stay Safe” book distributed to students in the Dallas Independent School District features Winnie-the-Pooh characters instructing students to run, hide and fight in a school shooting. (Cindy Campos)


When Cindy Campos’s 5-year-old son came back from school, he eagerly pulled from his bag a book he’d been given at school. He wanted to read it right away.

Campos took the book and froze. On the bright red cover, next to an illustration of Winnie-the-Pooh, were the words “Run Hide Fight.”

She skimmed through the pages and found it was an instructional book intended to teach children — in rhyming lines rendered in curly font — what to do in a school shooting.

“Danger is scary, but our legendary friends Pooh and his crew are here to help us through,” reads one page.

“If danger finds us, don’t stay, run away,” reads another, accompanied by a drawing of the characters Kanga and Roo in boxing gloves. “If we can’t get away, we have to FIGHT with all our might.”

A page from the “Stay Safe” book distributed to students by the Dallas Independent School District that features Winnie-the-Pooh characters instructing students to run, hide and fight in a school shooting. (Cindy Campos)


The distribution of the books around May 15, which was first reported by the Oak Cliff Advocate, sparked a wave of concern from parents in Campos’s Dallas school district, she told The Washington Post. Campos, whose children attend Leslie A. Stemmons Elementary School, found another copy of the book in her first-grade son’s bag and later learned from a teacher that the books had been issued by their school.

Campos criticized the decision to distribute the books without informing parents and questioned the school district’s “tone deaf” timing, just over a week before the anniversary of the school shooting that killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in Uvalde, Tex. More than anything, she said, the surreal image of Winnie-the-Pooh telling her children to hide and fight felt like an infuriating sign of acceptance in a country that has endured hundreds of school shootings.

“It’s kind of like a slap in the face,” Campos said. “‘Hey! It’s normal now. Have a book about it.’”

Full story at The Washington Post (May 2023)



Pictured: Boy, 14, who died after ‘school bullies put him in chokehold’


Distraught relatives of Hamdan Aslam have questioned claims that his death was a ‘tragic accident’ and a ‘silly game gone wrong’

By Daniel Sanderson And Catherine Lough


Hamdan Aslam died following an incident at his school


A 14-year-old boy who died at school had been put in a “chokehold” by bullies, a grieving family member has claimed..

The pupil, who has been named as Hamdan Aslam, died following an incident at St Kentigern’s Academy in Blackburn, West Lothian, on Tuesday..

While sources with knowledge of the investigation into the death said it appeared Hamdan had died in a “tragic accident”, distraught family members have questioned the claim..

On Thursday morning, officials at the family’s local mosque, in Bathgate, said relatives would not make any further comment due to the ongoing investigation..

“It’s a very difficult time for everyone in the community as a whole and the family,” said Asaad Tariq, a trustee at the mosque..

Several parents, some of whom said their children were witnesses, claimed that Hamdan died after voluntarily taking part in a game called “tap out”, in which they allow air supply to be restricted until they almost pass out.

Full story at The Telegraph (June 2023)

Chinese universities raise tuition fees by as much as 54%


By Ella Cao And Ryan Woo


The gate of East China University of Science and Technology is seen in shanghai, China, August 2, 2016. REUTERS/Aly Song AUNI


BEIJING, June 6 (Reuters) - Chinese universities are drastically increasing tuition fees this year, with some making their first rises in two decades, hurt by a reduced national budget for tertiary education and tight local government finances.

The higher fees come amid a financial crunch among local governments after three years of disruptive COVID-19 policies, a property crisis and a sluggish economy. Chinese universities, almost all public, rely heavily on state funding.

Shanghai-based East China University of Science and Technology raised tuition fees by 54% to 7,700 yuan ($1,082) annually for some freshmen majoring in science, engineering and physical education, and by 30% in the liberal arts, according to statements issued on Sunday.

Tuition for science and engineering rose by 40% at Shanghai Dianji University, while students majoring in management, economics and literature will have to pay 30% more compared with a year earlier, according to a notice on Monday.

Full story at Reuters (June 2023)