It's true. I used to wander around the out fringes of the girl's high school in Ohtawara (I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have let me onto the school grounds because I'm a sukebe (pervert)), and they looked pretty darn fit to be tied, I mean pretty darn fit to me.
The study also noted that both male and female Japanese high schoolers ranked the lowest in self-esteem amongst the four countries. Hmmmm. That really does suck.
The poll, which queried over 7,000 high school students from the four countries also examined their dietary habits, excercise and other factors to gauge their mental and physical health.
Okay... Japanese kids - especially over their U.S. and Canadian peers, must be in better shape. These kids have phys ed. and club activities all the time. Mentally... well, I'm pretty sure the pressure of having to perform like a trained monkey and having to ace their exams to get into a good university (and thus get a decent job upon graduation that they will hold for the rest of their life) is extremely stressful - and should they fail, I could see many of them becoming disillusioned with themselves.
It's a pity. I know that here in Canada, I never really tried untilI was 23 years old. I had squeaked into university, squeaked by andafter five years got a degree in Political Science, and then got into aJournalism program in college (When I began trying in school). I hadplenty of opportunities to screw up and plenty of opportunities toright my sinking ship. The U.S. has that too - but I'm reasonably surethat Korea, China and Japan do not.
As well, Japanese students saw themselves harshly, with only 7.5agreeing with the statement that they were 'a valuable person.'
Japaneseteens also ranked lowest on questions of whether they evaluatedthemselves positively, were satisfied with themselves and if theyconsidered themselves highly capable.
Somewhere still screwing up,
Andrew Joseph
Today's title is by Spinal Tap: ELEVEN.
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