Editorials

Teaching more than grades

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-12 08:00

A young Chinese man studying in Japan did not give his mother a hug but an emergency trip to the hospital on landing at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai on April 1. He stabbed his mother nine times and left her in coma. His mother was rushed to intensive care and is fortunate to be alive.

The man was said to be angry with his mother because she failed to put 300,000-400,000 yuan ($45,880 to 61,170), his tuition fee, in his Japanese account in time.

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The young man's violent rejection of his mother's love and hard work sent chills down the spine.

The man is not from a well-off family. Earning a month salary of 7,000 yuan ($1,070), his mother saved every penny she could to pay her son's tuition fees. She even borrowed money from her friends and relatives. The young man has never even worked part-time during his five-year stay in Japan.

This young man, who is violent, selfish and ungrateful, should sound a warning to our educators. He is one of the sad products of our country's education system.

Our children are raised to believe that the secret to a successful life is achieving outstanding grades. They're not imbued with empowering perspectives. They don't learn to take responsibility for their lives.

They don't know that they can be as happy and successful as they choose to be. Their attitude, not their grades, will determine their success.

The belief that good grades are essential for a successful life has had some disastrous consequences.

At douban.com, a Chinese website, 35,892 young souls have formed an anti-parent group. Calling all parents vermin, these people claim to be ignored or hurt by their parents. Some students have even attempted to kill themselves when their teachers or parents criticized them.

All these point to the fact that our current education system fails to teach our children the basic necessities for life after school, despite success in terms of literacy, mathematics and science.

Education goes far beyond the classroom and is supposed to teach our children more than just reading, calculus and science.

Today's students are paralyzed by excessive homework, pressure and fear of failure. They're taught to choose the path of security: Get good grades. Get a job. Be happy. Unfortunately that's rarely how it unfolds in a more competitive society. As a result, they're not happy with the country and their parents.

The education system places too much emphasis on academic grades. It fails to teach our young people how to be a person of integrity and moral character.

What can we expect a person who dares to hurt his or her parents to do for this country?