Are a really big deal. It's not affecting my kids because they're only seventh graders, but the ninth graders are having a really rough time of it. They have class every day until 10:15 p.m. now, which is adding an hour onto an already unrealistically tough schedule, and they've been having class every weekend. They just don't seem to ever get a break. Those test scores are just so important to both the individual students, and to the school.
The entrance exam to college is even more intense though. There were headlines a while back because there were kids hooked up to IVs so that they could keep studying longer and harder. I mean, it makes a certain kind of logic to hook yourself up to a drip to keep your energy up, but I'm glad I never had to do anything like that in high school.
Speaking of IVs, it's totally what you do any time you aren't feeling so hot. Just go to the local clinic, and get them to hook you up with a drip for a couple of hours. Apparently it works great, but I haven't yet been brave enough to go try it.
p.s. Here's a link about the IV drip studying stuff. http://behindthewall.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/07/11580943-chinese-students-use-iv-drips-while-test-cramming?lite
Eek! Do not do that! I wouldn''t trust it at all. Scary that the kids feel that much pressure.
ReplyDeleteYou've read classic Scifi! You know the I.V. Feel Good drip is really a...well, whatever, use your imagination. Luckily your home team sent you Snickers and Clif Bars. Also gummy bears, although admittedly those lack some key attributes of actual food.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't get is this: The unnecessary scarcity of education, that requires this I.V. drip and school till 10:15 p.m. stuff so that the miracle few can get through. What does China have but a whole mess of people to throw buildings together on the cheap & staff them with teachers delighted to have those jobs? There could be a cold-water high school every three blocks. And they would have the most high school grads on the planet. It'd be a new World Record for numbers of people who can do Trigonometry!
There's just not that much investment in education, especially out in rural areas. People who can't find other stuff are the ones who tend to gravitate towards teaching, and that can lead to some weaker teachers.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that's been interesting recently is that having a college degree (like in the States) is no guarantee of finding a good job. There are a lot of people my age who managed to get into and through college, and then get out and find that they're making less money than the class clown who dropped out in 7th grade and started working in a factory.