mjm

Proms, etc. are not what I speak of at all. I speak of learning individuality, learning to think, learning to create, learning trust yourself, learning to gain an understanding of responsibility. Together with these things the three R's are there. Japanese schools fail miserably in almost all respects.

mjm

Joe, as a young parent you will learn in time that the school experience is only what you allow it to be. I take on board what you said, as it is very similar to my own thinking before my kids were in elementary school and beyond. Allowing the school to take over the role of parenting as is done by the vast majority of Japanese people is not the western way at all. If you follow your American values of education starts at home, you will be fine regardless of how "90210" these paces can indeed be.

joejones

I think this is the key problem with the educational systems in both the US and Japan. School is good for some purposes but not as a substitute for parenting.

hailstorm

And again, I don't think it must be the school's responsibility to do all that stuff beyond the three R's (though with the after school club opportunities offered, Japanese schools do an adequate job of supplementing those as well). I think that if the parents spend enough quality time with the child, those other qualities that you speak of will be nurtured as well.

The wholesale farming of responsibilities that the family should be looking out for to institutions is, IMHO, a big part of why America has passed the point of no return in its decline.

I'm the OP, and I approve this topic drift!

acregal

I had a pair of friends who were from the middle of nowhere. One was from Tottori and the other was from Miyoshizaka in Hiroshima. Both of these people promptly turned 18 and got out. Both of them also had their parents get sick and went back to take care of them, something they did not want to do.

I've seen them a few times since then and they basically tell me how horrible it is, how there's nothing to do, and how there are tons of abandoned buildings.

jib71

What follows will follow...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEMWtyAKRhQ

5khours

FWIW - I had two kids who went K-9 in international schools. For them it was a very good experience. Friends have sent their kids to Japanese schools. From what I hear, through about 4th grade it was very good social and educational environment. After that the whole juku thing kicked in and the kids were not too happy.

5khours

I agree, but I think schools can play a very important role in the socialization process.

mjm

I think we agree that the family should be talking on much of the growth that goes beyond the 3 R’s.

That said, the club activities here do not come even remotely close to helping kids learn the things I noted. Kids here do not grow up being taught individuality at all. They learn to think as “We Japanese”. They learn to trust people above or senior to them and to not rely on their own instincts. The young executive is unique here, not the norm. They have no developed sense on own responsibility but rather focus on the group or the unit’s responsibility.

It I the exceptions to the rule here that are the standouts in society and industry. I would suggest that most every one of those standouts acts more western than Japanese. 

One of the things about America that has made it so great so quickly is that its citizens are constantly reminded of self and not group. This can be argued to be a bad thing in some instances, and I would like agree with the person making that point, but in my opinion still the balance of good vs. bad to be achieved through individuality is clearly in the favor of the former.

Whether one agree that it is best to be more group focused or more individual focused will play a large part in the decision of what school system to use.

America in decline? No. I could not agree less. I thing it is going through puberty maybe and will emerge a more socially responsible adult, but decline, not at all.

I look to my heritage and note that for thousands of years my family has been very focused on family and education. Long before Japan or America. My point here is that schools are only as good as the family allows them to be based on how they handle the rest of the roughly 18 hours a day.

hailstorm

I'm not even going to try to refute that, because I don't have three days to sit at a keyboard typing. Rather, I'd be most interested in the reason for your optimism that an increasingly obese and entitled populace will overcome the challenges it faces in the very near future. (Yes, I'm aware that the situation is even worse in Japan.)

The only solution that I can come up with is that America imposes its will via war, and that's not something that I'd be particularly proud of.

mjm

Quite simple to understand really. I believe the situations America faces now are solvable through basic policy and economics. I believe the nature of our society is such that we will take the necessary steps as required. We do not have the bury our heads in the sand policy of Japan and Europe.

hailstorm

Very well. I shall take the lazy way out and agree to disagree.

joejones

I think it depends on which school you go to. Kids who are on the rokudai track, and who shoot for the appropriate feeder middle and high schools, seem destined to endure that life of misery. OTOH my wife never spent a day in a juku but ended up going to college, getting hired at a well-known Japanese real estate company and venturing off on a couple of more interesting jobs from there. There were no juku kids at the Japanese high school which I went to, either, though pretty much all of them ended up somewhere in the working class. I'm not sure that I would wish the Japanese labor market on my kids anyway, but that's a different story.

KPT

And don't forget that religion is more important than science in this country. Buy your sermons on DVD! Or, for the full experience, on Blu-ray!

There is reason to be concerned here. Technology can pick up at any time and leave, particularly the software industry as it has no real need to stay here -- especially when we are increasingly alienated and our officials pursue a brand of politic and government policies that is stuck in the 18th century (or perhaps, late 19th century Germany -- trick the masses into voting for you by promising to do absolutely nothing).

That, and economic decline is not necessarily a bad thing (at least for humanity as a whole). It's a good time to reflect, and think a bit differently instead of beating the same old Keynesian and Adam Smith dead horses.

JDiver

The topic, as I recall, is "The closest thing to homeschooling in Japan" - about a small village having a school for, at this point in time, one child. The topic has drifted into parenting philosophy and now to politics, religion and other issues best suited for OMNI or OMNI P/R, to the point posters are being misquoted (fairly egregious behavior, according to the FlyerTalk TOS / Rules) and members are filing "AMPs" to request moderator intervention.

If the topic is exhausted, please move on. If you wish to discuss OMNI P/R material please do so there, not here.

Thank you,

JDiver, Senior Moderator