Kim Man-gon's Education Column What's the Point of Going to School?

She appeared to be a third-year middle school student. Carrying a heavy backpack, she walked down the path in front of an apartment complex. Her hair hung down, covering her entire face, which gave me a moment of unease. As we passed each other, I could barely catch a glimpse of her expression. It was deeply contorted.

In that instant, I felt an inexplicable sense of apology toward her. What pain or sorrow might be scratching at this delicate girl's heart? Someone close to her must have pointed out her mistakes, but perhaps the real cause was that very person's actions. And yet they blamed the girl for it.

If there were no one at school to console that bruised heart, I wished I could apologize on behalf of the person who had done wrong. If we could find a way to restore her spirit, the girl could go to school with a peaceful mind and a bright face, bringing joy to her friends and teachers. What serious mistake could a girl like her have made? Why must she head to school with such a contorted expression from morning?

What is the reason she must go to school with such expressions and such a heart? What kind of education must the girl receive at school? Memory training for taking the college entrance exam? That the representative work of Jeong Seon, a late Joseon painter, is ‘Inwangjesaekdo’? Why doesn't the school or textbooks help her appreciate the other works of this remarkable painter or the depths of his mind? Is it that only those majoring in art should learn more? When and how can they study further?

Who decided it was the representative work, such that every textbook only shows this painting? What is such studying used for? Does it broaden and purify one's heart? No matter how difficult and arduous, is understanding that life holds sufficient value and that one finds happiness in living this way essential or central to that understanding?

What kind of place is school? What does it mean for education to ‘develop the character of all citizens under the ideal of benefiting humanity (弘益人間), equip them with independent living abilities and qualities necessary as democratic citizens, enable them to live dignified human lives, and contribute to the development of democratic nations and the realization of ideals of human co-prosperity (人類共榮)’ (Elementary and Secondary Education Act)? What kind of study is actually taught?

Does it include getting along well with mom and dad and forming good relationships with friends and teachers? Does it provide opportunities to think about living a life of interest, participation, and cooperation in the many affairs of the world—for instance, going through high school to university, finding employment, getting married, living—and the meaning of such a life?… Or are those trivial matters that don't need to be learned concretely?

According to an online survey of elementary, middle, and high school students nationwide, over 210,000 adolescents were found to be at risk of smartphone and internet dependency. One out of five students are in an at-risk group for overuse, experiencing difficulties in daily life, with middle school students being the most affected. A newspaper article's headline depicted the reality directly and was highly provocative: “My son, are you looking at your smartphone again?”

It would be. If there is no fun at home or at school, what these adolescents will seek is something that sparks curiosity and interest, and what they can easily access without much difficulty is the smartphone and the internet.

If that's not allowed, what are they supposed to do? Read books? Now, forget mystery novels and comic books—read textbooks, solve problem sets, and listen to subject-specific lectures on EBS, right?

Who should I ask? Whether adolescents are actually enjoying life right now, whether anyone has researched ways for them to live enjoyably, whether such research is being conducted sufficiently but just doesn't catch our eye, or whether such research simply isn't being conducted at all because it doesn't seem like proper research…. Education scholars and administrators are certainly concentrating on something, but for what purpose and why are they working so hard? It's possible they're researching ways to focus students on textbook study and college entrance exam preparation even if it's boring.

Was that girl's morning an exceptional case? I asked some middle school third-years. School is fun sometimes, they said. In summary, they find it fun when they can laugh freely with friends or teachers, when they feel empathy while talking and playing together.