Let look at what South Korean high school students carry in their backpacks

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The parents who actually spent time in America or Europe weren't that crazy when it came to academics. It was the parents who never traveled out of Korea. They were the craziest.

Actually quite a few of the oriental and Indian parents in America are fanatical about academics and drive their kids as slave masters. You feel for the poor kids, their childhood taken away from them

 

[Mai72]

Different environment. In US, you barely have to try to get really good grades. In Korea, everyone gets good grades, so you have to try that much harder to even be a blip grades wise.

Yea. That's true. When they take those important test for college their test scores are put on a wall for everyone to see. That puts a lot of pressure on them to succeed. It brings shame on their family if the student gets a bad score.

 

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I was reading about the suicide problem of high school kids in India. It is quite an issue and the media is trying to change attitudes

 

[dbk]

In Korea you have to do well in school to do much of anything besides being a celebrity.. In America you don't have to well in school at all.. You can be a C average student and be the POTUS. Way less expectations in the US - which is fine. That's what makes this country so great. We have choices.

 

[Mai72]

In Korea you have to do well in school to do much of anything besides being a celebrity.. In America you don't have to well in school at all.. You can be a C average student and be the POTUS. Way less expectations in the US - which is fine. That's what makes this country so great. We have choices.

True. We don't have to do squat and the taxpayers will take care of our lazy asses.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

In Korea you have to do well in school to do much of anything besides being a celebrity.. In America you don't have to well in school at all.. You can be a C average student and be the POTUS. Way less expectations in the US - which is fine. That's what makes this country so great. We have choices.

What. The reason that testing became so extremely important in Korean culture is because it was a objective way for people to advance in society.

You know how economists are always claiming that class mobility in the US is always decreasing? The testing system was designed to directly combat that. By providing an objective system of study, even a lowly peasant could become a high ranking government official. It removed the divide between government and the people because anyone could get in quite easily assuming they had the grades. The idea that social and class mobility was attainable by anyone provided that you worked hard was an extremely important aspect of society.

Now, basically unless you're white, have a building at some college named after your grandfather, your ability to enter positions of power is going to be greatly limited.

 

[Mai72]

What. The reason that testing became so extremely important in Korean culture is because it was a objective way for people to advance in society.

You know how economists are always claiming that class mobility in the US is always decreasing? The testing system was designed to directly combat that. By providing an objective system of study, even a lowly peasant could become a high ranking government official. It removed the divide between government and the people because anyone could get in quite easily assuming they had the grades. The idea that social and class mobility was attainable by anyone provided that you worked hard was an extremely important aspect of society.

Now, basically unless you're white, have a building at some college named after your grandfather, your ability to enter positions of power is going to be greatly limited.

What happens if you have a learning disability? Or, if academics isn't your thing. What if school bores you.

Testing shouldn't determine your place in society, but this is what happens in Asia.

 

[Imp]

In Korea you have to do well in school to do much of anything besides being a celebrity.. In America you don't have to well in school at all.. You can be a C average student and be the POTUS. Way less expectations in the US - which is fine. That's what makes this country so great. We have choices.

According to the book Outliers, you only have to be "smart enough". The rest of a person's success comes from luck of the draw (e.g. bloodline, network, parents, the state of the world, specific events in the world, technology advancement, etc.).

I was raised on the "grades first, fuc* the rest". Let's just say that the rest included everything actually important in the "real world". Great grades in school, but going nowhere in life. Guess I can always brag about my grades? Rest of the family didn't fair so well either...

 

[Svnla]

In the case of China and N Korea oppressive govt nullifies all that study

Asians do not sit around and make excuses or blame others like certain group in US. You feel me?

 

[HamburgerBoy]

What. The reason that testing became so extremely important in Korean culture is because it was a objective way for people to advance in society.

You know how economists are always claiming that class mobility in the US is always decreasing? The testing system was designed to directly combat that. By providing an objective system of study, even a lowly peasant could become a high ranking government official. It removed the divide between government and the people because anyone could get in quite easily assuming they had the grades. The idea that social and class mobility was attainable by anyone provided that you worked hard was an extremely important aspect of society.

Now, basically unless you're white, have a building at some college named after your grandfather, your ability to enter positions of power is going to be greatly limited.

Could you provide more information on how grades affect the ability of someone to get into a high-ranking government position or similar? I've never heard of that and brief Google searching is failing me for details.

 

[bononos]

The other issue is, ONLY the US really tries to educate its entire populace.

Only the US? Practically all western/OECD countries and many developing countries have universal education.