Public Education
February 20th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
What school did you go to? Public school? Private school? Charter school?
Few days ago, University of TN at Chattanooga invited Geoffrey Canada to give a speech about his Harlem Children’s Zone program (http://www.hcz.org/). His speech was just so inspiring however, Canada made me realize how kids in this country are not getting proper education to reach their dream. Public schools are failing. Kids are dropping out from school. The kids who are going to take care of this country near future are not reaching their 100% potential. They do not even get a chance to explore their talent. Why are we not doing anything about this? Why did we let this happen?
I went to public school – I spent 11 years in public school in S.Korea and 4 years in a public school in Cleveland, TN. Now, I will ask you a random question: why do you think kids in Asia are considered smart? Well I have an answer for you. THEY STUDY. In fact, they study way too much to the point where it’s not healthy for them, literally. A lot of high school in Korea starts around 9 a.m. o’clock, however, they have to be in the class 30 minutes before their own study session. After an hour lunch break around 12 p.m. class begins again and ends around 5 o’clock. Here’s kicker. They do not go home after school. They stay until around 8 p.m. to study more. I am not saying this is healthy or necessary to provide better public education system. Frankly, kids in Korea do not get enough physical activities because of all those crazy study hours. Public education system in S.Korea is not perfect overall but the students learn and study at school. I really wish public schools in the U.S. improve much more. I really hope schools in this country teach kids how to achieve dreams and goals.
What can I, as an individual, can do to make difference? Luckily for me, I’ve got a chance to participate in an event called ‘CreatAthon.’ Local designers and design students will come together April 8 and 9 and discuss how we can help local public schools. I do not have further information yet but I have definitely excited to be the part of the event. My little effort won’t make drastic difference but I believe this small step will teach me how to engage myself to the problem that we are facing in public school system.
