==JAPAN: KM== [Education]

These days, I have had no idea why going to school is the only way for adolescents to acquire an education. I have been a student for nearly fifteen years without questioning it, but when I was asked by my cousin for advice, my opinion about schools changed. He told me that he hated going to junior high school, because he felt emptiness about going there. And he said, "It is more useful to work than to go to school!"
I think that it is education that is the surest route to a life where intellectual, social, financial, and physical abilities matter. For this reason, adults force children who are in their family, or even in their community, to go to school. Ideally, students would all be fond of it, and there wouldn't be any bullying at all. Teachers would all be well-educated, creative, and considerate of their pupils. The reality is that, however, the number of students who reject going to their junior high school reached 107,910 in 2000, that is one in 30 junior high school students remains home in order not to go to school. Bullying is a social (not only classroom) problem in Japan, which includes bullying to students from teachers. In addition, cases of sexual harassment done by teachers who have authority over students are reported. Even after you have heard these problems, do you think, in Japan, schools are a suitable place for education?
The need for education arose in the modern age, when people discovered "children." Until that time, children had been regarded identical with adults; even now in some developing countries they are placed in the same category as adults. In the Middle Ages, in Western countries, people started to believe that reason was all that was needed, so people who were not rational --children, neurotics, and mental patients, etc. -- were regarded "aliens." This only idea resulted in the institutions which were expected to develop children into adults.
In our time, however, diversity has been developing in the world. The more diversified the world becomes, the more senses of values people have. And such varieties of values have been producing children who cannot be satisfied with the way of education, that is going to school and receiving lectures. Why on earth do they have to go to school, too?
In the U.S. we can see a different type of educational system called home schooling. Home schoolers are taught by their parents instead of going to public schools. Even if the parents do not have a teaching certificate, they are able to teach their children. The family of a home schooler needs to be approved as a private school by the state where they live, and turn in a roll card. That is all needed for any family to practice home schooling. Cathy Oyama who lives in Orange, California is one of such parents of home schoolers and she teaches her four children. According to AERA magazine, her children study reading and writing, mathematics, science, history and the Bible for 6 to 7 hours per day on average. And, they go to a piano school and a swimming school. Cathy says, "Since parents are responsible for the education of their children, I want to learn with my children."
In order to support home schoolers, there are many teaching materials, e-web sites (ex. www.internethomeschool.com) and even colleges in the States. It was estimated by the U.S. Department of Education that there were 850,000 students who were educated in home schooling in 1999, that is 1.7 percent of American students. And now, it is said that there are 2 million home schoolers. It is true that there is criticism against home schoolers; for example, it is beyond them to learn how to fit into society. Kasai Shouko says, however, that it is an advantage of home schooling that they are able to visit many places and get in touch with many people. Her daughter is one of home schoolers in Japan.
Suppose you had a child, which way of education would you choose for your child, ordinary schools or home schooling? It is needless to say that going to school has countless advantages. I think, however, recognition that going to school is not the only way of receiving education might be needed for many students in not only the U.S but Japan. Going to school is one thing but being educated is another. In my idea, the necessity of going to school has been decreasing as the means of receiving education are increasing in number. I think it is needed for Japanese society to provide children with several other ways of schooling including home schooling.


"Getting It Together"

I had had no idea about "home schooling" before I started writing my essay. I hope it will become one style of education in Japan, too. I have realized that writing an essay only in ENGLISH is very hard beyond my expectation. But I think it was a good experience and may help me any time in my future. I did not have enough imagination to write a tale, so I wrote an argumentative essay. However, writing it was much more difficult than I had expected. I hope that those who follow will write essays with more eagerness than I.