Advice on life and schools
I would like to offer some advice in response to a letter by Soloman Paul and maybe some enlightenment as to why people often behave in cruel and stupid ways without noticing (Letters, Nov. 4, page 8).
Paul’s letter was about the workload given to his children. Is the amount of work based on scientific research that shows how to get the best results out of children? Of course not, or Taiwan and South Korea would consistently be at the top of world educational results.
So what is it based on? I say it is based upon a fantasy which is part of the human condition.
We are hardwired to conform and compete. If people did not conform in sufficient numbers, societies would collapse, and we compete to try and improve, or so we think.
Why do people in their millions walk into financial traps and sign up for mortgages they cannot afford, and why do people set up so many of these traps that risk collapsing their own banking system? Why can’t they see that it is going to hurt?
Since we are wired to conform, we make up our own reality as we go along. I look at you, and you look at me, both conforming and competing on a road to nowhere, until the situation we have created becomes so bad it implodes.
The financial troubles in Europe and the US were predicted in the UK by Lord Acton (famous for his “power corrupts” quote), and the US by Henry Ford. That was a long time ago.
Why doesn’t the world listen to intelligent people? Really intelligent people can think for themselves, so they often stand out from the crowd as different and we find it hard to trust them. They are too geeky, if you like. The persecution of Galileo by the Catholic Church illustrates this perfectly.
To help Paul with his problem of what to do about his children, the law in Taiwan offers good support when it comes to education. It is perfectly legal to homeschool your children. (I have a Taiwanese friend who homeschooled his children for two years.) You are not fighting a legal battle, but a cultural one.
There are no homework police and when somebody says: “You must do this,” it is not true. Loco parentis finishes with the school bell: It is your time and you have rights to it. Scientific research should underpin any educational system, we would all agree.
Remember “the three eights”? A good scientific study carried out in Taiwan recommended that children get eight hours sleep, eight hours of schooling and eight hours of something else. It is very hard for a school to argue another point against good science, so stick to your guns, ask to see a homework timetable; ask to see which science supports the school.
I had the same problem with my son. The school admitted they based the education on whatever the teacher thought, but could not and would not change. We moved schools and found a teacher who was willing to listen and give us a choice. My son’s performance improved dramatically. The school in Greater Taichung which people pay huge sums of money for and gets great results is not the school which gives the most homework, but the least.
My son does not go there, he goes to a government school that understands logic and reason. There is no scientific evidence that supports the theory, “if something is good, more must be better.” The best amount to give is just the right amount, no more, no less.
People do not get rich by working longer and longer hours, they get rich by being more efficient. Efficiency in education comes from raising the quality of each lesson and understanding the needs of the children, starting with the physical: Tired children don’t remember, so you need to make them study longer, right? This is clearly nonsense.
This does not mean that nonsense will not win the day for most people. We learn by pain, there is no way out. Evolution teaches us that animals which have a flaw, like dinosaurs, die out and something more effective and efficient takes over.
Thankfully more parents in Taiwan are becoming aware, so there is hope. We all like to be good citizens to a point, but it’s not worth compromising a child’s education for. Once enough people ask for change, it’s not change anymore, it is just common sense.
I would advise Paul to consider a change of school; it worked wonders for my family.
I came to Taiwan 10 years ago to write a book about chaos and culture, and did what I promised myself I was not going to do. I too fell for a cheap genetic trick and ended up staying to marry a beautiful Taiwanese girl, who is also intelligent, and that is the best bit.
Peter Cook
Greater Taichung
Don’t touch that remote
I read Jeffrey Sachs’ commentary (“The US is a nation of vidiots,” Nov. 7, page 9) all the way to the end only to glean this bit of wisdom: We can all turn the TV off more often and spend that time reading, talking with one another and rebuilding the foundation of personal health and social trust.
Many already know from common sense that the best defense against excessive TV viewing is self-control.
Michael Tsai
Greater Tainan
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