When Your Diary Talks Back
Written by Kyle on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 in Korea, Republic of
Feelin' thoughtful
One of my favorite students is a student named Nicole who is a 4th grade student in one of the top classes for her age. I like her because she is smart (without being too smart or bragging about it) and she tends to have a more mature view on things than most people her age. Heck, she probably has a more mature view on things than most kids in high school. For example, when she was tasked an essay titled "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up", her essay basically said that she just wants to have a happy life, irregardless of what job she has. I know at that age I wanted to either be a professional wrestler or a detective; I never really took the existential view on it.Feelin' thoughtful
Anyway, as a part of my class, the students write diaries where I correct their English and give them encouraging remarks on their writing. Usually it follows the form of: "Yesterday, I did homework, then I played computer games. It was fun."
However, Nicole, the Philosopher, actually writes diary entries as if no one is reading them. Instead of talking to The Diary, I am the one on the listening end.
Here is a recent diary entry, unedited:
Everyone will write about their times when they have special party. But I don't. I sometimes do, but this time, I won't. I want to write diary about studying. Why Korean students study too hard? In Korean parents' story, some of the parents just play after the school. Before they play all day but now, it's not. It is opposite. Now, students go academy after school. In vacation, too. Please... can you just see what we do? We want to play! We don't want to be studying machine!
First I have to say that what she is saying is true. Basically, after their public school, kids go to various acadamies (called Hagwons in Korean), such as a Math Academy, Science Academy, Ballet Academy, and, in our case, an English Academy. In other words, when we get our elementary school kids, they have already had a full day of school. There are so many acadamies that a lot of kids are in school until 7 pm, with some kids actually doing school work up until 10!
So after thinking about it for literally 20 minutes, here's what I ended up writing back to her:
Studying and playing are equally important. But, if we play too much, we won't learn enough. However, if we study too much, we are unhappy. I suggest that you do all of your studying quickly and efficiently so that you have as much time as possible to play. And when you play, play with friends. Everything is better with friends!
I hope I did a decent job of responding to her. I'm not usually the one to mince my words, so it was difficult for me to say something truthful without saying what I really think. I guess I can be happy that the diary entries aren't about boyfriend/relationship issues. That's when I'm just going to write "Talk to your parents about that one!"
Comments on "When Your Diary Talks Back"
Ya, it's something that they haven't figured out in Korea, yet. Hard work can get you so far, but if you really want to get ahead, it's working smarter and more creatively. Hopefully the next generation will push back a little more.
Your student is a very smart girl to have realized her life is all work and no play. I like the feedback that you gave her. Hopefully she will have time to play with her friends, and hopefully her friends are also finished with their studying.
It appears that children are the same worldwide. My American students always felt that they were "overworked" when in reality, compared to your Korean students, they were carefree! The Korean school hours alone would be daunting for American kids. American elementary students are usually finished with school by 3:00 unless they have an after school "fun" activity like sports or clubs. Is there a lot of anti-establishment rebellion of teens in Korea? I know that in Japan at the end of their basic education, they must pass tests to get into what would be our high school level. So, the pressure for excellence is intense and failure causes shame leading to anti-social behavior. I wonder if Korean students experience the same angst when they have just been pushed too hard.
Ya, it's pretty much the same system here. Kids get pretty stressed out about the tests because it basically determines the course of the rest of their lives.
What has happened to the concept of being a family? Aren't the kids supposed to do activities like games, puzzles, shopping lists, video movies, dining and household chores at home with their parents? Don't they shop at malls and grocery stores together and eat at fast food places? This all seems so strange!
A lot of things in Korea seem strange. I try not to rationalize them too much because sometimes they hurt my head. To be fair, I think they think the same way about us, though.
I think that there does need to be a balance between school and play. Children need an opportunity to use their imagination outside a canned structure. Imagination is where the discoveries of tomorrow come from. Michael Jackson is the perfect example of what happens to someone robbed of their childhood.
by Outer Banks Revealed at August 19, 2009 08:16 PM-- Dan