Chocoholic
22-10-2003, 04:00 PM
I can’t write very well, so I have just stolen the first post in this tread from other places.
Hikikomori has become a major issue in Japan. Loosely translated as "social withdrawal, "hikikomori refers to the state of anomie into which an increasing number of young Japanese seem to fall these days. Socially withdrawn kids typically lock themselves in their bedrooms and refuse to have any contact with the outside world. They live in reverse: they sleep all day, wake up in the evening and stay up all night watching television or playing video games. Some own computers or mobile phones, but most have few or no friends. Their funk can last for months, even years in extreme cases.
www.time.com (http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/2000/0501/japan.essaymurakami.html)
Analysts point the finger at Japan’s pressure cooker education system, which places heavy demands on children from a very young age. (Our reporter) visits a kindergarten in Tokyo where the children are forced to play outside semi-naked in near zero temperatures. The school head tells him: “It helps make them healthy from the core of their being.” At another school in nearby Nagano, bullying is encouraged and the children are regularly hit.
[url]www.abc.net.auURL (http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/stories/s968727.htm)]
An estimated 1 million Japanese have locked themselves in their rooms. The issue is that once these children come out of their room, some are committing violent acts against themselves (suicide) or others. The Japanese seems to be divided on finding a solution. Parents are sending their children to tougher schools while the government is relaxing the curriculum.
What do you think is the best solution to the problem?
Hikikomori has become a major issue in Japan. Loosely translated as "social withdrawal, "hikikomori refers to the state of anomie into which an increasing number of young Japanese seem to fall these days. Socially withdrawn kids typically lock themselves in their bedrooms and refuse to have any contact with the outside world. They live in reverse: they sleep all day, wake up in the evening and stay up all night watching television or playing video games. Some own computers or mobile phones, but most have few or no friends. Their funk can last for months, even years in extreme cases.
www.time.com (http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/2000/0501/japan.essaymurakami.html)
Analysts point the finger at Japan’s pressure cooker education system, which places heavy demands on children from a very young age. (Our reporter) visits a kindergarten in Tokyo where the children are forced to play outside semi-naked in near zero temperatures. The school head tells him: “It helps make them healthy from the core of their being.” At another school in nearby Nagano, bullying is encouraged and the children are regularly hit.
[url]www.abc.net.auURL (http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/stories/s968727.htm)]
An estimated 1 million Japanese have locked themselves in their rooms. The issue is that once these children come out of their room, some are committing violent acts against themselves (suicide) or others. The Japanese seems to be divided on finding a solution. Parents are sending their children to tougher schools while the government is relaxing the curriculum.
What do you think is the best solution to the problem?