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The reason we live life is happiness. But we do not know what happiness is and we do not know what we live for. South Korea currently ranks 102 out of 178 countries on the happiness index ― almost last.
It has become a wealthy country. But its people are not happy. South Korea now has the highest youth suicide rate in the world. This is because parents force children to compete from an early age.
A certain kindergarten has a yard and good facilities, but parents say that they are moving to an English kindergarten because the kindergarten does not teach English. They are driving their children to hell.
Parents want to send their children to Seoul National University. But only one percent of the students are admitted to Seoul National University. And are they happy when they go to Seoul National University?
Daily, children go from elementary school to English, math, and essay academies. In middle school, they study at the academy late into the night, so as to enter a science high school, a self-supporting private high school, or a foreign language high school. When they come home, they cannot sleep properly because they have school homework to do.
As a result, they do not have the opportunity to eat or talk with their parents. Since they have not been happy during their student days, they will not be happy when they become adults. They do not know how to be happy. They are not happy even if they enter prestigious universities.
Again they must endure fierce competition, in order to become a judge, prosecutor, or doctor. They must compete for employment at large companies such as Samsung, or to become civil servants.
These would-be-employees hate going to small businesses. So, workers from Southeast Asia or Central Asia work in small and medium-sized companies' factories. When most college students fail the exams for large corporations and civil organizations, many tend to idle away as unemployed at home, dependent upon their parents.
Happiness does not lie in entering a prestigious university or becoming a judge or a doctor. You should be happy where you are, right now. If you were not happy as a child, you would not know how to be happy as an adult.
Parents should release students from academies and let them do work that suits their abilities. Adults should make themselves happy. But adults themselves are not happy. So they abuse their children with their studies.
Benjamin Franklin said that if wealth is lost, little is lost; if fame is lost, half is lost; if health is lost, all is lost. You have to be healthy to be happy.
Then, how can we be happy? Exercise: walk, hike, stretch, and swim. Live a life of gratitude, because God gives us water, air, and sunlight freely. Do not be greedy for what others have, and discover what you have. Study steadily! If you want to live from now until 100 years old, you have to study again. Adults have to pack their suitcases and leave for Europe, America, and India, right now, not later. If you are not happy now, it is unlikely that you will travel when you are older. Leave now, not later!
The writer (parksi48@naver.com) was a former teacher at Pungmoon Girls' High School.
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