What a wonderful sight! The South Korean students are chained to their desks for hours at both home and school. Neither a sign of sparkle nor spirit is observed in their eyes. Routinely, their parents, teachers, and even the South Korean government shout about the merits of entering “elite” schools.

What a relief! My brother who has graduated from Ojai Valley School Lower Campus this year is destined to join this “healthy” South Korean educational competition. A surge of joy chokes me out of my life when I see him dragging his feet to home at 2:00 a.m. Not to mention that whenever he whispers the three words in the morning, “Let me sleep,” my glee continues to chop my bleeding heart into these very three pieces.

Something needs to be done. Before global warming devastates the world and brings human extinction, the South Korean students will die out. In fact, the suicide rate of these students is rising dramatically.

So where is the future for these children? I say, “Nowhere.”

(Check out the two articles, “Elite Korean Schools, Forging Ivy League Skills” by New York Times reporter, Sam Dillon and “Suicide in South Korea Case of Too Little, Too Late” by Tania Campbell.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/world/asia/27seoul.html

http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?at_code=390145