Raise kids the Asian way

UCLAri
Sat, 22 Oct 2005 09:11:15 +0000

blythe,

I am generalizing because I have a huge issue with the notion that Asian educational systems are so much better. I can’t tell you about every student I teach, because it’s too time consuming.

What I can tell you is that most of them suck. They’re rude, they ignore the teacher, they sleep in class, they get up and walk out. This is behavior that would never be accepted where I went to school (a public middle school in Los Angeles.)

I don’t believe it’s some inherent cultural thing per se, but in large part the pioneering immigrant spirit with a small influx of home-country values (I don’t discount culture altogether.)

But when people start talking about how Japan is educating their kids so much better than we are, I get a little irked.