I hear BHS students complain a lot. They don’t like school for a lot of reasons: the tardy policy, the amount of homework assigned and the fairness of grading.

Having attended school in Korea as well as the United States, I cannot understand these complaints. BHS is so much better than Korean schools.

There are lots of people who believe that the Korean education system is better, and that American schools need to become more like Korean schools. In 2009, President Obama was quoted in the Huffington Post,  “Our children spend over a month less in school than children in South Korea every year. That’s no way to prepare them for a 21st-century economy.”

I believe that President Obama is wrong. The Korean education system is so much different than what people see on the outside.

A Korean newspaper said “Obama’s remarks came as a surprise to many South Koreans as the country’s education system has been under constant public criticism due to its lack of creativity and heavy dependence on private tutoring.”

Those who want to make American schools more like Korean schools are wrong.  Because Korean schools rely so heavily on standardized tests, students blow off their classes, don’t study at school, and rely 100% on private tutoring to prepare for the tests.

Korean high schools have too many tests.  Students have to take tests in 14 subjects including P.E., art and music as well as the core subjects. We also have national standardized tests. Freshmen are taken out of class to take practice tests every three months. There are no sophomores in Korean schools. Juniors take this test every two months. Seniors take this test every month and also they take the Korean SAT called Su Neong.

Most of Korean schools’ grading system is based 90% on the mid-term and final test, which drives students crazy on testing days. To get good grades, Korean students feel that they need to do better than the national standards. Therefore, Korean students hire private tutors, which cost a lot. Also the teachers know about the private tutoring, so they make the tests harder and harder, and this drives students to get even more tutoring.

In Korean schools, teachers have the right to use corporal punishment. Until recently, Korean educational law said that teachers have the right to punish students as necessary for the purpose of education.

I experienced this myself. My P.E. teacher paddled me with a bat because I was talking to my friend in class.

Korean students feel this is unfair, so last year the Seoul city court passed a law finally banning corporal punishments in schools.

While the stereotype of Korean students is that they are hard working and disciplined, my experience says otherwise. Many students smoke secretly, drink liquor, fight and engage in other destructive behaviors.

I understand that American schools are not perfect either, but before you complain about BHS, come to school in Korea for a month. You will have a different opinion of BHS.