Have the Kids been Overworked?
A Korean boy whom i was tutoring fell asleep while i was teaching him today. Though that irritated me, knowing the reason behind it left me very disturbed. We had a good 45 min talk when he told me about his life and what was going on. I shant reveal his name but he's only a grade 8 (14 yrs old) boy who is studying in an international sch here. One wld expect a Grade 8 student to be happy, carefree and to focus on his studies. But not for this boy, i was shocked when he told me about the timetable that his mother prepared for him, something he has followed so religously for the past 3 years. He claimed that his mother is an over-achiever and wanted him to be perfect in almost everything. Hence, outside of his sch timetable, he has to set aside time for rugby, tennis, golf, piano, violin and clarinet classes and tuition for subjects like English, Mandarin and Math. He is constantly on the move and has no time for himself at all. In order to squeeze in all the activities, he has to be up by 7 every morning and sleeps ard 3 am or later after he completes his homework.
I didnt want to, be i cldnt help but feel sorry for this boy. He was obviously overworked and felt so exhausted!There was little i could do but to let him have a lil nap during my class, but i left his house feeling very bothered by what he told me. :(
2 comments:
Korean education is tougher than Singapore's. At a younger age, they are already exposed to advanced statistics, something which I struggled through in university. There's an old article in the International Herald Tribune which talks about it... worth a read to understand how sever it is, in terms of culture, and why so many Korean students have committed suicide.
See http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/08/news/korea.php
That was a great article.
Went to Korea in 2004 and in between trips our guide would entertain us with stories about Korean life, or the place we'd be visiting next. Koreans place great pride in their major universities. Graduates of Seoul Uni would willingly help their former classmates if they somehow didn't take off in the corporate world, not because they're friends, but because they don't want the prestigious name of Seoul Uni to be tarnished in the slightest. It's a cruel world there, but it's also no more than an exaggeration of what we'll be experiencing.
It's great that you saw that for yourself Pam. And it's even greater that you shared it with us. Now we all know. :)
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