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Last week, having returned from an overseas trip, I picked up my 16-year-old daughter, Hannah, from her school in the evening. She is in her first year at a girls' high school noted for its academic rigor and its somewhat elitist outlook. As she got into the car, she passed me her shoulder bag to hold.
It almost wrenched my arm off.
The bag was weighed down with note books, stationary and a heap of text books: The thing must have weighed 15 kilos, turning my little girl into a walking library. I was astonished that a teenage schoolgirl was hefting a weight more appropriate for a paratrooper or a marine commando. No wonder she has been suffering from neck and back aches.
After my initial shock, I asked if she really needed all those books every day. She said she did indeed. So I told her instead of using her bulky school backpack, with its two shoulder straps, she could henceforth use my mountaineering pack, which offers better padding on its shoulder straps, an internal frame for strength, and a waist belt to spread the load. She said "No."
Surprised, I suggested that we get her a wheeled bag she could tow behind her. Again, she said "No." Exasperated, I asked why not. Apparently, such carrying devices are not permitted at her school. Why not? Well, according to the school authorities, such a bag would mean she would "not like look a student."
That floored me. She then told me something equally remarkable. Even though the cold season is almost upon us, students are not permitted to wear thick coats, such as down parkas. Why not? Same reason: If the children wore these coats, they would "not look like students."
This is nonsensical. What is "a student" supposed to look like? Exactly what logical or other criteria are educators using to reach these whacko decisions? Children, it seems, can carry shoulder bags ― but only poorly designed ones. They are allowed to wear coats ― but only ones poorly suited for the season.
I am not arguing against school uniforms, or uniformity of dress. There are good reasons for wearing such. For one, it gives all the children the same look, thus obviating the potential problem of rich kids wearing rich kids' clothes and poor kids' wearing poor kids' clothes and the former looking down on the latter on grounds of outward appearance.
But this is ridiculous. What should be the priority of the school? The uniformity appearance of its student body? Or the health of the children?
To me, this answer is a no-brainer. If schools require children to carry tons of books, then for goodness sake, permit them to use appropriate load-bearing equipment. When the weather turns cold, allow children to wear clothing that will keep them warm, rather than enforcing a regulation based on no logic that I am aware of.
This all points to wider issues affecting the educational system. We all know the problems be-devilling the high-school curriculum. Creative and analytical thinking goes out the window; rote memorization is to the fore. The curriculum subsumes individuality, ignoring different students' different academic strengths, so perpetrating a "one-size-fits-all" system. Children do not focus on the "journey" or knowledge or skills acquisition, they focus on the "destination" of passing exams. Teachers teach to the test. Social and peer pressures are colossal. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Korea's education system ground out students who were drilled-and- skilled in basics; disciplined; and responsive to command. Such a workforce was appropriate for the manufacturing-based economy of those decades.
Alas, it does not inculcate the creative and analytical skills required by a post-industrial, high value-added services economy, which is what Korea, with its expensive workforce, is now heading towards.
And given the high rate of suicides among youth, and the appalling pressure schools place on teenagers, it is clear that the system is badly failing in terms of children's mental health.
This analysis is hardly original. These problems are well known, widely reported and frequently discussed. These issues need to be addressed at the national level, but at the local and school level, I wonder if the teaching profession itself has also lost the plot.
What is the school system doing to its student's physical health? This issue of bags and coats is something that individual schools can easily address.
Children's wellbeing should be the foremost priority of educators. Rigid adherence to subjective thinking should not be, and criteria deciding "what a student should look like" need to fall within sensible, logical and transparent parameters.
It is a cruel irony that a school which prides itself on academic excellence enforces such stupid rules. Educators! Wake up, re-consider your priorities and get a grip.
Andrew Salmon is a Seoul-based reporter and author. Reach him at andrewcsalmon@yahoo.co.uk.
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