Should we study at school for a long time?

張貼日期：Jul 08, 2013 8:0:13 AM

Should we study at school for a long time?

Esther Chung

   As a student for almost twenty years, I’m always interested in a discussion—do students in Taiwan spend too much time on studying? My answer is “Yes,” but for some people, the answer may be “No.” They think studying more, they would learn more. However, in my opinion, students studying too long at school will have not enough time to release, get too much stress, and lose enthusiasm for studying.

    If students stay at school too long, they cannot release themselves properly at the right time. In Taiwan, high school students go to school before seven and half, leave after five, and maybe go to cram school until eight or nine. Some of them and their parents think that spending long hours means they work hard to prepare for their future life, but I don’t think so. Students would not rest enough after they work hard. After several years, they will feel tired of studying.

    In addition, studying very long will make students get too much stress. When I was a high school student, I studied over ten hours every day. It really made me feel tired. I couldn’t sleep well almost every day. In the class, I slept sometimes, so I missed much important knowledge. Stress also made me sick. At that time I had to take medicine after almost every meal.

    The most important thing is that studying too long will make students lose their enthusiasm in studying. For me, the days in junior high and senior high school are the most painful days in my school life. When I studied at school, I hoped I could get out of there. Not just I, almost all of my classmates were tired of studying. We took tests in the morning; in classes, we were tested. We study everything just for tests. None of us knew the “real” meaning of the tests.

    I envy Japanese students. They go to school at nine, and leave the school at three, so they have much time to play and rest. “To rest is to prepare for a longer journey ahead.” I hope one day, students in Taiwan also can decrease their studying time in school.