http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/fashion/16Cultural.html?_r=1
Amy Chua is a professor of Yale University. She recently wrote a book about her education, which is extremely harsh to their children. After I read this article about her new book and her educational theory, I recalled the memories of the education in Korea. Almost every Korean parents regard their children's grades at school as the most important thing.Therefore, they force their children to attend "cram schools" after schools are over. "Cram schools" are basically similar to the schools, but the students attend there for additional studies after school. There are many types of "cram schools," and English and Mathematics are regarded as the mandatory subjects when one goes to the cram schools. Usually, when a kid enters an elementary school, his or her parents send the kid to a cram school, and sometimes a child as young as four or five years old goes to the cram school. The hours a student studies in the cram schools in a day depends, but many of them stay in there at least two or three hours. Since most of them go to more than one cram schools a day, so many students come to home as late as seven. As one goes to a middle school, the hours they stay in cram schools increase, and high school is even worse. For instance, I had classes until five p.m., had diner at school, and was forced to stay at school until ten for "night study hall". After that, I had to go to a cram school, which started at 11:00 p.m. and ended at 1:00 a.m..
Many people asked me if it was effective to study in Korea. And every time someone asks such a question, I answer them "No". Even though I studied for a long time, I could not concentrate on almost any subject, since I was so tired due to last night's cram schools. After I read the article about Amy Chua, I started to wonder if that kind of education is really effective. From the article, Chua says that she forces her children to be on the top of everyone in any field. That can be possible if one really put efforts 24/7, but I am not sure that will make the one happy. Not to mention that the child would rebel against parents, in my opinion, this kind of education does not guarantee the stable and happy future.
Amy Chua is a professor of Yale University. She recently wrote a book about her education, which is extremely harsh to their children. After I read this article about her new book and her educational theory, I recalled the memories of the education in Korea. Almost every Korean parents regard their children's grades at school as the most important thing.Therefore, they force their children to attend "cram schools" after schools are over. "Cram schools" are basically similar to the schools, but the students attend there for additional studies after school. There are many types of "cram schools," and English and Mathematics are regarded as the mandatory subjects when one goes to the cram schools. Usually, when a kid enters an elementary school, his or her parents send the kid to a cram school, and sometimes a child as young as four or five years old goes to the cram school. The hours a student studies in the cram schools in a day depends, but many of them stay in there at least two or three hours. Since most of them go to more than one cram schools a day, so many students come to home as late as seven. As one goes to a middle school, the hours they stay in cram schools increase, and high school is even worse. For instance, I had classes until five p.m., had diner at school, and was forced to stay at school until ten for "night study hall". After that, I had to go to a cram school, which started at 11:00 p.m. and ended at 1:00 a.m..
Many people asked me if it was effective to study in Korea. And every time someone asks such a question, I answer them "No". Even though I studied for a long time, I could not concentrate on almost any subject, since I was so tired due to last night's cram schools. After I read the article about Amy Chua, I started to wonder if that kind of education is really effective. From the article, Chua says that she forces her children to be on the top of everyone in any field. That can be possible if one really put efforts 24/7, but I am not sure that will make the one happy. Not to mention that the child would rebel against parents, in my opinion, this kind of education does not guarantee the stable and happy future.
I agree with you. There is a balance between learning and life. Going to school from 8am to 1am, doesn't necessarily make you smarter. There is brain research that shows children and teens need 8-10 hours of sleep so that the brain can connect synapses and make use of the information and experiences taken in during a day.
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