It Breaks My Heart

One thing that I really learned while I was in Peru is that there usually is not a right and a wrong way of doing things, but that there are simply different ways of doing things that have both positive and negative ramifications. 

It's really hard for me to look at the Chinese education system and say this.  I understand that the Chinese culture is different from ours and that competition and hard work are important to them.  But I don't think that it justifies putting children through the level of stress that Chinese students have to endure.  It just breaks my heart when I see these children devoting years of their lives to some academic dream that so few will actually achieve.

I just think that a child is so much more than their academic talent.  These children are neglecting so many important aspects of their development: social relationships, play time, relaxation, finding their identity.  And then when they fail academically, they have nothing else to turn to.  It's as if their whole lives are over.  At age 18.  It is just a horrible position to put a child in.

And then I have to ask myself: is all this intense studying really effective?  I mean - let's be honest - in most jobs what are they going to care more about?  That you have memorized a lot of things or that you know how to collaboratively work in groups?  I know that if I was a boss I'd take a mediocre student with a lot of outside activities over a straight-A student that obviously lacked social skills any day.  I mean, in most businesses - it doesn't do you any good to know a lot of stuff if you don't communicate well.

And social skills are just one aspect that is being neglected.  What about emotional stability?  Don't these kids have breakdowns?

The list goes on and on.

When working on my GaoKao presentation, I interviewed a few Chinese students and asked them about their feelings about the GaoKao.  I remember that one student told me "it is like a double-edged sword."  I think that that is an incredibly great picture of what the GaoKao is like for Chinese students.  There is everything negative that I have already mentioned, and yet, for many it is a source of hope - because it is the one chance they have to succeed and potentially escape their current financial situation. .