==JAPAN: KM== [School Life]

After graduating from university, a young man was employed by a junior high school as a new teacher and began to work there. The students in his charge were much younger than he was. So, he had enough confidence in his ability to direct them, but he had only one thing to worry about. That was about a girl. For he had heard that she was unstable and tended to turn red with anger because of trifles and just lose control.
A few days had uneventfully passed since he first met his students. The girl in question was too thin and looked obedient. Besides, it seemed to him that she had successfully adapted herself to new school life and was enjoying it. Thus, he was relieved very much and said in his heart, "No problem! She is a good student."
It is often said that coming events cast their shadows before them, but the event suddenly broke out, that is, she suddenly began to act violently in class without warning. At first, she threw around her eraser, pencils and textbooks yelling out something. Next, she threw around dangerous things such as scissors and compasses with all her strength. The other students screamed in fear and ran away from her. It was total chaos. Finally, she lifted her desk up, threw it in front of her and ran out of her classroom at full speed. All he could do was to stare at her behavior in utter amazement.
After that, the same happening took place many times. He didn't understand why she frequently began to act violently, but it was not long before he traced the cause of it. As a matter of fact, other students wanted classes to be interrupted and urged her to do so, that is, they began to pick on her behind his back. For example, when he was writing things on the blackboard, some students threw various pieces of trash at her. When he passed out handouts to all the students in the class, they snatched her handout from her and hid it. Their bullying her gradually got intense and things were getting worse. So, he intended to stop them from bullying her and during homeroom, he shouted at them, "Why do you bully her? If you don't do so, she can keep herself in hand. Would you be happy if you were picked on? Imagine her feelings!" However, they wouldn't follow his persuasion. It was during only the next few days that they didn't pick on her. Things had been bad enough, but the worst was yet to come. He felt sorry for her and came to be deeply worried about what to do. "What should I do to reason them out of picking on her?" Though he explained the immorality of bullying to them again and again, they wouldn't stop picking on her.
This condition had gone on and on for half a year and he had been exhausted in mind and body. One day, she began to act violently in class and ran out of her classroom as usual. Just after that, he appealed to them to stop picking on her again. "Why do you bully her? Don't you feel sorry for her?" Tears were running down his cheeks, as he was talking.
Strange to say, they suddenly stopped picking on her. Of course, she seldom acted violently after that. Things were going better. He was very glad to see her get along with the other students and enjoy her school life. However, he didn't understand why they suddenly stopped bullying her.
Ten years had passed since they finished junior high school. Since he had news that they held the first alumni reunion, he went to it. He met them and found they had fully grown. So, he told some student the question that he had had for a long time. Why did the students suddenly stop bullying the girl? Then, the student said, "Until then, I had taken it for granted that adults, especially men, never wept. So, I was so much surprised to see you weeping. I think the shock made me stop picking on her." He listened to the student and gave a wry smile. He asked another student about the same thing, too. Then, the student replied, "I didn't realize how deeply you cared about her until I saw your tears. Your consideration for her made me stop picking on her."
We often do something bad in spite of knowing that is bad. It means that it is very hard for us to have control over ourselves. I think something beyond logic may make it possible for us to behave morally. What on earth would you do if you were a teacher and some students began to pick on a student?


"Getting It Together"

As I hated composition in my childhood, I usually had my parents write my composition for me. As a result, I had become extremely weak in composition. To make matters worse, I am weak in Japanese-English translation. So, I had a lot of trouble writing this essay. Nevertheless, I am very glad that I have finished writing my own essay. I think the best way to write a good essay is to do so while believing we ourselves are good writers. I wish the future students good luck-those who, like me, will also have to write essays. Last of all, I want to warn everybody not to help your children write compositions when you are a parent.