4월 3일 과제Korean 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.