Every year in June, the entire country buckles down, crams, and stresses about the the much revered and much feared College Entrance Exams. Similar to the SAT or ACT, its a long, meticulous, painstaking, and mind-numbing experience. Unlike the SATs, this set of exams has the power to determine your educational opportunities, professional life, career, and the general success and prosperity of the rest of your life. So, yes these kids have a bit of pressure.
And the entire country feels this pressure. Special lines on buses and subways are designated for these poor little high school students. School buses drive like tanks or battering rams through the morning rush hour traffic. Families lie to their children about dead/dying family members as to not distract their studies. Wait - WHAT?! True story, check it out:
http://www.chinasmack.com/2012/pictures/student-learns-mother-died-only-after-finishing-gaokao-exam.html
The mom of one of these students perished in a car accident 2 weeks before her son's tests. Rather than tell him and make him more emotionally distressed, the school, police department, and family members all collaborated in a huge lie.
So, imagine this boy, finishing 3 days of intense testing, breathing a sigh of relief once laying down his #2 Pencil, just to be greeted by his family (NOT his mom or dad), saying "Congratulations! You finished! Oh, and by the way..."
The bigger question is, what would you have done????
--
Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China
And the entire country feels this pressure. Special lines on buses and subways are designated for these poor little high school students. School buses drive like tanks or battering rams through the morning rush hour traffic. Families lie to their children about dead/dying family members as to not distract their studies. Wait - WHAT?! True story, check it out:
http://www.chinasmack.com/2012/pictures/student-learns-mother-died-only-after-finishing-gaokao-exam.html
The mom of one of these students perished in a car accident 2 weeks before her son's tests. Rather than tell him and make him more emotionally distressed, the school, police department, and family members all collaborated in a huge lie.
So, imagine this boy, finishing 3 days of intense testing, breathing a sigh of relief once laying down his #2 Pencil, just to be greeted by his family (NOT his mom or dad), saying "Congratulations! You finished! Oh, and by the way..."
The bigger question is, what would you have done????
--
Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China
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