South Korea's Exam Suicides

[Exiled Martian]

During exam preparation Korean students go in at 8am and don't often leave till 11 pm...

Apparently this is quite common in Japan too from a very young age!!!

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2009/0423/p06s01-woap.html

.....Seriously I've a great deal of respect for any culture that puts that much value on education. Not to imply that they are above criticism. But most cultures have a lot worse attributes to criticize...meanwhile most american kids are tweeting their pusssssies in class and whining mommy bought them the hardtop mustang instead of the convertible..

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

Korea has always had high suicide rates.

So has Japan...

We go thru this in Africa too with exams breh. The pressure is severe but I never heard anyone kill themselves.

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

There has to be a balance. Japan's work/life balance is TERRIBLE and the whole country is going down the tubes because of it...

 

[Exiled Martian]

Korea has always had high suicide rates.

So has Japan...

We go thru this in Africa too with exams breh. The pressure is severe but I never heard anyone kill themselves.

Na unlike other places that encourage relentless academic pursuing.... In the far east they take it to an extreme level. It's not stigmatized, it's a requirement & If you aren't beyond perfect then you might as well kill yourself...(thats the general message portrayed) hence the stereotpying pisstake you se eon shows like Family Guy when they do them asian sketches!


& in stark contrast over time, US students have gotten Fatter & Stupider.......But they still lead the world in Self-Esteem!

http://bandofthebes.typepad.com/ban...stupider-no-wonder-were-1-in-self-esteem.html

http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131016/BUSINESS/310169998/1010/USWORLD

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

Na unlike other places that encourage relentless academic pursuing.... In the far east they take it to an extreme level. It's not stigmatized, it's a requirement & If you aren't beyond perfect then you might as well kill yourself...(thats the general message portrayed) hence the stereotpying pisstake you se eon shows like Family Guy when they do them asian sketches!


& in stark contrast over time, US students have gotten Fatter & Stupider.......But they still lead the world in Self-Esteem!

http://bandofthebes.typepad.com/ban...stupider-no-wonder-were-1-in-self-esteem.html

http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131016/BUSINESS/310169998/1010/USWORLD

Its the same in Africa dude in Kenya u can't even get into highschool without completing an intense placement exam in grade 8 that decides the rest of your life. People study for this a whole year. When I went to school these we had a full day then tutoring after classes for several hours THEN some kids got private tutoring @ home after that and on the weekends I had to go to school on sat for a half-day. Once in highschool you face a course load heavier then most universities gone give in one year over a semester.

They also used to display all grades and rankings in class so u knew who was failing always. The bottom of the class kids were often treated like shyt and often lacked confidence. To compound all this we were punished physically for bad marks in the 90's... Straight beatings and in highschool prefects basically had free reign to haze use in extreme ways. I had to do push ups in trenches for talking in class, lift chairs over my head for 30 mins while kneeling and do one arm pull ups and failure led to more punishment. So in short breh I know damn well what they go thru, suicide is just a part of their society. When I moved here and saw what highschool was like I had to

shyt was a vacation, I was feeling like I just got out of prison. A nikka had to slow it down again and just be a kid n enjoy life. Asian/African parents and societies go so hard with that shyt it just drains u. Kids had their weight equivalent in books strapped to they back walking to school.

 

[Exiled Martian]

Its the same in Africa dude in Kenya u can't even get into highschool without completing an intense placement exam in grade 8 that decides the rest of your life. People study for this a whole year. When I went to school these we had a full day then tutoring after classes for several hours THEN some kids got private tutoring @ home after that and on the weekends I had to go to school on sat for a half-day. Once in highschool you face a course load heavier then most universities gone give in one year over a semester.

They also used to display all grades and rankings in class so u knew who was failing always. The bottom of the class kids were often treated like shyt and often lacked confidence. To compound all this we were punished physically for bad marks in the 90's... Straight beatings and in highschool prefects basically had free reign to haze use in extreme ways. I had to do push ups in trenches for talking in class, lift chairs over my head for 30 mins while kneeling and do one arm pull ups and failure led to more punishment. So in short breh I know damn well what they go thru, suicide is just a part of their society. When I moved here and saw what highschool was like I had to

shyt was a vacation, I was feeling like I just got out of prison. A nikka had to slow it down again and just be a kid n enjoy life. Asian/African parents and societies go so hard with that shyt it just drains u. Kids had their weight equivalent in books strapped to they back walking to school.

Damn Bruv I know where you're EXACTLY coming from ... I experienced the same style of autocratic zealous teaching conditions in school (Schooled in Tanzania for the first 14 years of my life so upto Grade 7 & Form 1)...LOL I remember those undercover extra tuitions classes that most of us took up for the very reason you stated i.e the fierce academic rivalry and the fact that everyones credentials were out in the public open for all to see....jeez....those were some tough pressurised times growing up...in hindsight despite the several caned beatings with the Chelewas (Bakora as they called it) & bamboo stick I thank the system for how it prepped me...for when I came to the UK... I was literally at how easy the curriculum was in comparison to the point I god for the level of torment endured in a previous chapter!

 

[Liu Kang]

It's been said that Asian countries are "shame societies" where pride and honour are great factors. So maybe that's why suicide is high

 

[trick]

My parents went through the same thing in Vietnam during the 70s. They had to study entire summers and on the first day back from summer vacation, they had an exam. If they failed, they had to stay behind a year. My uncle failed an exam in high school and my dad told me he got his ass whooped at home for an entire year.

 

[Exiled Martian]

My parents went through the same thing in Vietnam during the 70s. They had to study entire summers and on the first day back from summer vacation, they had an exam. If they failed, they had to stay behind a year. My uncle failed an exam in high school and my dad told me he got his ass whooped at home for an entire year.

That ass whooping is an oh too familiar flash back Personally i don't think this level of dedication is effective. I mean persistence is great yet, but after a certain level I'm sure the brain is tired and it isn't effective. learning for more then 14 hours? you're dead tired & probably feel like so you're not going to retain anything.

To sum it up like I was sayin to @Kunta in Africa it was the same sort of regime..but IMO I think our brothers in the Far East just take it too far with the severity of studying & the whole Do or Die approach to it!

 

[trick]

That ass whooping is an oh too familiar flash back Personally i don't think this level of dedication is effective. I mean persistence is great yet, but after a certain level I'm sure the brain is tired and it isn't effective. learning for more then 14 hours? you're dead tired & probably feel like so you're not going to retain anything.

To sum it up like I was sayin to @Kunta in Africa it was the same sort of regime..but IMO I think our brothers in the Far East just take it too far with the severity of studying & the whole Do or Die approach to it!

I honestly think it's not conducive at all in regards to raising kids. A lot of my older uncles/aunts didn't have great relationships with my grandparents because they were so hard on them about their grades. Some of them still bring up the ass-whoopings they received.

They've done well for themselves, but they're really unhappy, repressed people. There has to be a happy medium between how lax the education system is in the West and how things are in Africa/Asia.

 

[Tommy Fits]

There has to be a balance. Japan's work/life balance is TERRIBLE and the whole country is going down the tubes because of it...

I work for a small business owned by a Japanese family and I can cosign this. It's husband and wife and their two sons. The husband and wife were born and raised in Japan and the sons born here. None of them take days, I've been here for 7 years now and they don't take vacations. The one son I don't think has missed a day of work since I've been here. The father had prostate cancer a few years back and did the cyber knife treatment, he is now fine. But the doctor told him he would miss 4 months of work, he was back in 2 weeks. Their entire lives revolve around work.

 

[unit321]

It's been said that Asian countries are "shame societies" where pride and honour are great factors. So maybe that's why suicide is high

That's somewhat true.

 

[unit321]

Hmm. This is interesting. Right now, people have a strong work ethic. The next generation of workers might become apathetic, kind of like America. This is an opportunity for America to regain it's footing on being a leader in home electronics and appliances again. That's ten to twenty years out when the current middle-aged Japanese people with a strong work ethic will have retired.

 

[Robbie3000]

Its the same in Africa dude in Kenya u can't even get into highschool without completing an intense placement exam in grade 8 that decides the rest of your life. People study for this a whole year. When I went to school these we had a full day then tutoring after classes for several hours THEN some kids got private tutoring @ home after that and on the weekends I had to go to school on sat for a half-day. Once in highschool you face a course load heavier then most universities gone give in one year over a semester.

They also used to display all grades and rankings in class so u knew who was failing always. The bottom of the class kids were often treated like shyt and often lacked confidence. To compound all this we were punished physically for bad marks in the 90's... Straight beatings and in highschool prefects basically had free reign to haze use in extreme ways. I had to do push ups in trenches for talking in class, lift chairs over my head for 30 mins while kneeling and do one arm pull ups and failure led to more punishment. So in short breh I know damn well what they go thru, suicide is just a part of their society. When I moved here and saw what highschool was like I had to

shyt was a vacation, I was feeling like I just got out of prison. A nikka had to slow it down again and just be a kid n enjoy life. Asian/African parents and societies go so hard with that shyt it just drains u. Kids had their weight equivalent in books strapped to they back walking to school.

I'm glad I moved to the states in grade school. Before they abolished corporal punishment, I used to feel sorry for the not so smart kids. I used to be like I't s not their fault, stop beating them....throw the towel!!!

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

I'm glad I moved to the states in grade school. Before they abolished corporal punishment, I used to feel sorry for the not so smart kids. I used to be like I't s not their fault, stop beating them....throw the towel!!!

Yup them dudes had it rough man, in my school we made em sit on the hot sun blazing side of the room, they called it Jua Kali

Some of em gave up on life by grade 8. They had people repeating grades multiple years and if u got stuck u never advanced.

I moved after one semester of highschool if I did 4 years of that I would have been brolic. God help the kids in boarding school cuz they nightmares never ended after class.