In a statement read to the judge by her attorney, Yang cautioned Chinese parents against sending their children alone to the U.S. at a young age.
?This is a wakeup call for the ?parachute kid syndrome,? ? Yang said in the statement. ?Parents in China are well-meaning and send their kids thousands of miles away with no supervision and too much freedom. That is a formula for disaster.?
Zhai also told the judge that living on her own in a foreign country played a role in her actions.
?They sent me to the U.S. for a better life and a fuller education,? Zhai said in a statement read by her attorney. ?Along with that came a lot of freedom, in fact too much freedom. ? Here, I became lonely and lost. I didn?t tell my parents because I didn?t want them to worry about me.?
