Cultural Post #2 (111)

[Jeffrey Choi]

I was curious about the student life in Korea, so I decided to do some research on this topic. In Korea, the average high school student has class from about 8am until 9:30pm or 10pm. The reason for this insane amount of school hours is because the competition to get into a good college is very high. Since everyone is working this hard, everyone has to try as hard. On top of that, many students attend hagwons which are private after school learning programs. These programs help reinforce higher education and English skills. As a result of these hagwons and long school hours, the average teenager doesn;t get home until midnight and dinner is served at school. There is also school on Saturdays. I feel blessed to have been a part of the American education system throughout my entire life after learning about what Korean students have to go through. Even in college, my studies aren't as rigorous as these high school students, which isn't something to brag. I think Korean shouldn't push so hard on these students because I also learned that because of the immense pressure of having to get good grades and go to a good college, some students commit suicide because they fail to do so.  I think this is pretty depressing and something should be done to prevent this action.