Asia’s Brutal Education Is K*lling Students (Literally)

A third of students in South Korea have contemplated ending their lives because of academic pressure. In Japan, self-inflicted death is the leading cause of death for children. In China, self-inflicted death is so common that schools install metal bars on windows to prevent students from jumping off. Why are so many students in Asia so depressed? Because the infrastructure of many Asian countries rely on an education system comparable to modern slavery, and you'll soon see what I mean. These images look straight out of a dystopian movie, but this is actually the college entrance exam that every Chinese teenager must take, known as the Gaol Call. A low score on this exam could mean a low income job and discrimination from society. The Gaol Call is treated like a national holiday. All construction stops, traffic diversions are created, airplane paths are changed to reduce noise. The exam room is full of cameras, metal detectors, and fingerprint and iris matching technology. Cheating on this exam can lead to 7 years in prison. And other Asian countries operate with a very similar system. Japan has the Common Test, India has the JAE, South Korea has the Seongyong. These exams are packed with extremely difficult questions, which require years of intense studying to pass. They determine the future of millions of students, and the mental health effects can be seen in the thousands who end their lives every year. But what exactly do these students go through to make life a living hell? If you imagine what slavery is like, you might imagine 16 hours of work a day, a lack of freedom, and physical abuse from authorities. Well, that's exactly what a student in Asia goes through. Do you ever find school exhausting? Well get ready to change your mindset, because here's the study schedule of a South Korean student. Wake up at 6.30 in the morning, get to school at 8am, school ends at 4pm, and that's probably when you would go home and doom scroll. But not these South Korean students, they have to attend a cram school. Cram schools are private tutoring institutions that put students through long study sessions in high-pressure environments. A student gets out of cram school around 9pm, but they aren't done yet. They then go back to their school library and self-study until 11pm. Wow, that sounds like a long, rough day huh? Well it's not over yet, they then go back home and continue studying until 2am. That only leaves them with 4 hours to sleep before they wake up and do it all again. Why do they study so hard? Because if they don't do well on their entrance exam, they won't attend a good university and they'll be stuck with a low-income job and a difficult life. Their intense study schedule isn't an option, it's a necessity. And it's not just South Korea, a 16-hour study schedule is very common for students all across Asia. And along with this, there's also a very toxic culture around competition at Asian schools. All grades and test scores are publicly displayed for parents and students to see, and having a low score could mean shame, insecurity, and even bullying. This creates additional pressure to study harder. And if that isn't bad enough, physical abuse is another factor contributing to high self-inflicted death rates in Asia. Imagine you're in high school and you hand your homework to the teacher past the due date. The teacher stands up and slaps you in the face. You'd probably be in shock, but to a student in Asia, it's just part of life. The reason I know this is because I've seen it myself. When I was 6 years old, I went to China for vacation. For whatever reason, my parents put me in an elementary school there for a few days. When I was there, I witnessed a very strange method of teaching. Teachers would call on a student to answer a math question. If that student gave the wrong answer, the student got smacked with a wooden stick. And remember, these are 6-year-olds that I'm talking about. Corporal punishment is illegal in many Asian countries, but that doesn't prevent teachers from doing it. Reporting this act is an extremely complicated process, so as a result, teachers almost always get away with it. In some cases, parents even prefer teachers who implement physical punishment. There are countless anecdotes and video evidence on the internet of students in Asia being hit by their teachers. There have even been some cases where students were beaten to death. In Taiwan, a whopping 70% of junior high students had experienced physical abuse from their teachers. In 2011, 98% of South Korean students reported physical punishment from their teachers. One school in China even forced parents to consent to their children being hit. This tradition of abuse has been passed on throughout centuries, and because it's so culturally accepted, Asia just turns a blind eye to it. Several self-inflicted deaths in Asia have been directly attributed to physical punishment from teachers, and studies have proven a direct link between physical punishment and the desire for self-inflicted death. And if you think this is bad enough, let me remind you that in Asia, talking about your mental health is like talking about your diarrhea, it's just not something you talk about. This is because Asian culture is centered around perfection, and any issue of mental health is a sign of weakness. Valuing mental health is seen as shameful and selfish, as if a person only cares about themselves, and not the people around them. As a result, Asian students hide their emotions and struggle, and they almost never seek help. 70% of South Korean students who ended their lives did not show any unusual characteristics at all. This also means that essential mental health resources such as therapy, psychiatry, and counseling are very limited, and students rarely use them. Mental illness is rarely diagnosed or treated in Asia, and many Asian people even deny the existence of disorders like depression or ADHD because they see it as a weakness. Now combine everything I've just discussed with frequent bullying between students and abuse from parents, and it should be no surprise that so many students wish to end their lives. However, what remains shocking is that children under 14 are doing the exact same thing. In recent years, South Korea saw an increase in self-inflicted death in girls between 10 and 14 years old, and China saw a similar increase in children between 5 and 14 years old. These children should be playing with toys and watching Spongebob, but in Asia, children study up to 11 hours a day. One reason for this is because class grades play a crucial role in college acceptance. Another reason is that many Asian countries also adopt an exam system for entering junior high and high school. A bad score on these exams could mean losing the opportunity for a proper education or being forced into vocational school, which prepares students for labor work. As a result, the pressure to do well is extremely high in children as well. This video of a little girl begging her parents for more playtime says it all. With death rates so high, you might be wondering how Asian governments are responding to this problem. Well, there have been some attempts to lessen academic pressure, but it's not nearly enough. Many Asian governments have cracked down on cram schools to reduce student workload. South Korea is planning to ban cram schools from operating past 10pm. Many Asian countries have set limits on how much homework a student can receive. Countries have also implemented crisis hotlines and are attempting to provide students with more mental health resources. But these attempts don't change the fact that college admissions are still extremely competitive and many parents and students are secretly continuing intense studying and lessons. The pressure to do well remains extremely high. Unless Asian countries reform their education systems, nothing will get better. Which begs the question, what changes do Asian countries really need? Well, an entrance exam shouldn't be the sole determining factor for college acceptance. People are more than just test scores. There are multiple categories of intelligence, and everyone has their own individual strengths and weaknesses. But Asian education systems do not recognize this. Their work through society is not in their unique traits, but rather a numerical value on their exam. Compare this to Western countries where college acceptance isn't just determined by test scores but also essays and personal statements, letters of recommendation, and extracurricular activities in which a student's individuality shines through. Exam scores only measure how much information a student can memorize. These exams do not measure a student's creativity or intelligence or real-world problem-solving abilities, which are qualities that should matter the most to a society. Through this system, many bright and capable students are losing the opportunity to change the world. Asia's education system reveals a very dark future that Asia is heading down. Although Asian governments and parents have gradually realized this problem, more action needs to be taken. As populations rise and job markets shrink, competition will rise drastically, and education requirements will only increase. Students will continue to suffer in a demanding, abusive system. If creativity is not valued in Asian nations, then people will stop being creative. But this decline of creativity is actually something happening all around the world, and the results will soon be devastating. If you want to know what I'm talking about, then click right here. As you can see, I'm a very small channel, so, hey guys, please, please subscribe, please like, you know, I'd really appreciate that. I have a lot more videos coming soon, so, I'll see you guys later, bye.