Zzzzz...

My class is learning about ancient Chinese tools in history. I can't say I blame them for falling asleep, though I am shocked at the number of students who do doze off. Whole columns of students will be asleep, heads on their desks, for the last 30 of a 40-minute block. Many even remain sleeping through the 10-minute break between classes, all the way until their next teacher begins class.
Chinese students definitely have the reputation of working harder, both in China and in the States, but I’m not convinced that’s true. Their tests are harder and they certainly spend more time on schoolwork than we do. It’s easy to find students who don’t do their homework at South – pick five students randomly from any class and you’re bound to find one – whereas they do not exist at Jingshan. Everyone, from the bottom of the lowest class to the top of the highest, hands in their homework. Students even pay for their homework booklets here!
For most though, maybe with the exception of an instrument, school is the only thing they do. School ends at 4 p.m. If you don’t have an extra class until 6:30 p.m. or orchestra rehearsal you go straight home and work. The combination of no extracurriculars and little to no procrastination on the student’s part, allow them to get to bed earlier, as well.
Yet they sleep more in class than kids in the States do. I wonder if this is because they aren’t stimulated. I’m speaking generally obviously, but they study and study and study, and have nothing to look forward to because everything is resting on the Gaokao, the Chinese college entrance exam, and only contributing factor to which college students attend. All focus is on scores, unlike in the States where focus is also placed on what makes an individual unique.
The kids in my class openly express to me how they have little to look forward to. Someone in Hannah and Becky’s class even called it “hell.” They sit in the same room from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, go straight to their desks to study until 10 p.m. or so and then study and watch TV on the weekends. Molly didn’t leave the house once this weekend, and left the dinner table early every meal to study for an English test, which she must be in better shape for than the rest of class. Same with Gaoyinhua, a girl in my class.
Many kids in America work this hard, but there are vast differences. When I tell Gaoyinhua and her friend (during morning excersizes!) that I frequently got three hours of sleep at home they are in shock.
“Whhaaaa! Why?!”
But I stay up this late because I’m doing things I love: The Lion’s Roar, coaching basketball, spending time with friends. And then doing homework. I had many things to look forward to during the day, all that made school not only bearable, but enjoyable. If all I had to focus on in life was school, I don’t think that would have been the case.
Before China I thought very little of the American education system, that kids were too stressed and didn’t have enough time for rest and leisure. After just two weeks at Jingshan, however, a school known for not only being the best in the country, but the most enjoyable for its’ students, I have no complaints. My politics teacher taught the class the other day that Americans have too much freedom. This freedom, however, is what makes my countless sleepless nights worth it. As an American student I have the opportunity, or freedom if you wish, to spend endless hours at the newspaper and then start my homework. Or for my friend to devote her time after school to theatre and then return home way after dark. Or for another friend to wake up before sunrise and surf before class.
Although we get less sleep, we are stimulated by what keeps us awake long into the night. Stimulated enough, at least, to keep more than 2/3 of class awake the entire 55 minutes.