Korean students’ mindsets: anti-Japan, sex, school and positivity
Sex, drugs and rock n roll are on the minds of many Western high school students, but what about Korean students?With the exception of drugs, it seems Korean students are no different but have additional worries about the pressure of school, study, and Japan.
Some say Koreans call Japanese as monkeys because monkeys can be found in Japan. Monkeys cannot be found in Korea.
In South Korea, racist remarks about foreigners, especially Japanese, are seldom frowned upon. It is not difficult to find Koreans who would not hesitate to call Japanese people monkeys.
Unfortunately, young students participating in a project run by the winner of the 2014 K-Blog Awards best educational blog category are no exception.
Some students describe Japanese as “monkeys,” “murderers” and “history distorters” on their placards while participating in the project.
This is indicative of a wider cultural norm but the owner of the KSS tumblr page may not be able to avoid criticism for allowing students a platform to voice racist anti-Japan sentiments.
While many students write messages containing positive self-talk, humor and teenage topics, others post serious socio-political issues. Some placards are particularly sinister, dark, and racist.
But at least, one student appeared to be opposed to the notion of calling people monkey.
Anti-Japan
Based on the placards, many Korean students seem firmly convinced that Japan is an unrepentant neighbor that cannot acknowledge Korea’s “rightful” ownership of Dokdo islets and a “shameless nation” which insists to call the body of water between the two countries the Sea of Japan.
Source: Korean Students Speak
A 2013 survey also reveals that more than 62 percent of Koreans believe Japan’s military poses a security threat to Korea. Some 64.7 percent of the respondents also believe that Japan is a military threat.
This is not surprising given that the former occupier of Korea continues to beef up its military presence while denying its past atrocities, including the forced mobilization of comfort women.
“People who have forgotten their history have no future,” one student wrote on her placard.
This could be indicative of Japan trying to rewrite their history books and remove reference to human rights abuses during their occupation of Korea.
School
Other students’ placards identify the struggle and stress endured while in high school. Of this theme, many chose to express dissatisfaction for the stressful Korean high school system. Many wrote they are not getting sufficient sleep.
“I want to sleep for 8 hours right now! Please,” his placard says while puts his head down on his desk.
Another implied his mental health was in jeopardy. “I’m tired. I’m sleepy. My mental has broken.”
This is not surprising given the astounding results of the National Youth Policy Institute survey.
In 2014 they surveyed 9,521 elementary and secondary school students about their sleep, rest and the causes of stress.
They found that Korean high school students sleep an average of 5 hours and 27 minutes a night. Nearly 70 percent admit they are sleep deprived.
Fifty two percent indicated they lack sleep due to studying late into the evening.
Thirty seven percent indicated they had suicidal thoughts in the past year due to poor grades (40.4 percent) and family problems (27.6 percent).
Nearly 90 percent indicated they had less than two hours of time to relax on weekdays.
Sex
Surprisingly, some students expressed dissatisfaction with not being able to watch pornography until 19 years of age or have sex.
One comical male student wrote “Masturbation is my life” and a young lady wrote, “I want to watch sex video.” Both their eyes and foreheads are clearly visible and those that know them would easily identify them.
Cho Seong-nam, professor at the Ehwa Womans University, said that teenagers have more exposure to information about sex nowadays.
“More teenagers are openly talking about sex and learn it from the Internet, rather than from school or their family,” she said.
However, Cho warned that teenagers are increasingly becoming vulnerable to wrong understandings and attitudes about sex and relationships.
Positive messages
A small majority of placards photographed and on display on the KSS Tumblr site are remarkable.
Many students wrote positive sentiments. “You can do it. I believe U,” “No one limits your growth but you,” “You are not alone,” “I love you all,” “Never give up,” “nothing better than you,” “You are really important,” “Love and peace on earth,” “fear of the future is a waste of the present,” “Carpe Diem,” and the list can go on.
These students often appear with their faces in the photos and are generally showing much more positive emotions than those with anti school sentiments.
Famous German psychologist Rorshach would have a field day interpreting why this is but a simplistic explanation could be that these placards held by students offer insight into their personalities and emotional resilience.
Korean students speak founder
Jenny, the founder of the KSS, is aware of these problematic placards but has opted to refrain from censoring the students.
“Korean Students Speak (KSS) started in order to provide students with the opportunity to utilize English in a creative and organic way to express their opinions and thoughts to the world,” Jenny told The Korea Observer.
Jenny started the project in 2011 to encourage South Korean students to write a message on blank paper, take a photo, and upload it to their Tumblr page.
Since then, this social experiment has attracted thousands of students who have posted photos of themselves holding a placard with a short message written on it in English.
“The goal of this project is to encourage students to creatively voice their opinion,” the KSS Tumblr page states.
Lee Tae-hoon, publisher at The Korea Observer, contributed to this article.