1. 4월 3일 과제
Korean Kids Are just like Ours, 100 Years Ago
"If they can do that in South Korea, we can do it right here in the United States of
America."
President Barack Obama said that last year. He was talking about school. He was
talking about hours. He was talking about how hard South Korean kids work, how
long they study, how much time they put in -- more than a month longer per school
year than their American counterparts.
I am writing this from South Korea, where I have spent a week, much of it
speaking to high school kids. And I can tell President Obama pretty confidently that
we can't do what they're doing here.
Because we don't believe in it.
South Koreans treat school like a full-time job plus a full-time marriage. They put in
day hours and night hours, followed by weekend hours. It is not uncommon to see
children in school uniforms walking home late at night. It is not uncommon to see
them studying through weekends. There is private English education on top of the
public education. Families split apart to improve a child's training. You hear stories
about schooling that runs from sunrise past sunset, with breakfast, lunch and dinner
being served in the building.
What you don't hear is cheerleading squads. What you don't hear is spring break
trips to Cancún. What you don't hear is classes to boost self-esteem, to celebrate an
ethnic group, to explore the arts.
How are our kids supposed to mimic these kids when this place doesn't look
anything like the American school system?
There is an obsession with getting ahead here that begins with the classroom and
permeates the adult workplace, where rigid hours and meager vacation days are the
norm. The attitude mimics one you heard among American immigrants in the early
20th Century: "If you don't do well in school, you won't get to college, if you don't get
to college you won't get a god job, and if you don't get a good job, you'll be a loser."
There is no shame in that lecture here. It is not viewed as corny or clichéd. It is
part of the national pride, if not the national obsession.