In the early 1990s, national reforms were implemented in Taiwan to make education more "well rounded." Encouraging participation in extracurricular activities sounded like a good idea, unfortunately, it only doubled the academic stress load. In addition to the prerequisites, students were required to check off additional items -- art, music, sports -- from their "to do" list. Reflecting the mental strain, depression and suicide rates rose among the young. In 2003, 55 students committed suicide, two years later the number nearly doubled. Just this March, the Ministry of Education requested students make "I Won't Commit Suicide" vows.
Sadly, Taiwan hasn't learned its lesson. In the US, school isn't just an institution for higher learning; it is a place for personal growth. The US teaches her minors the method of not just obtaining data, but acquiring knowledge. It's a wonderful thing that students in the US question their instructors and refuse to treat their textbooks as sacred text.
The result is a tough crowd to please, a public that's quick thinking and hot-blooded, filled with visionaries drumming up novel ideas and ingenious solutions. Surely that's something the US is doing right.
Holiday Dmitri is research editor at Radar Magazine in New York City.
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