NYT article on easing academic pressure and a cultural divide

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In the article, it sounds like the Asian parents who had their kids in advanced math classes wanted it to continue. Not sure why people who did not have their kid in the program should have any say in the matter.

The administrators of a public school district do not base their policy decisions solely on parents' stated desires. Nor should they.

Thus the article and controversy in Princeton. Getting rid of a program that is 90% Asian smells of politics. Kind of similar to why DC does not have a gifted and talented test-in (not application) program because the kids in it will be mostly white.

I wonder if people ever bother to read the article before commenting on it. The superintendent was worried about the recent suicide clusters at schools in Palo Alto and Newton, schools with similar demographics, i.e. affluent with high percentage of Asian. In Palo Alto, a number of the suicides were Asian males. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/12/the-silicon-valley-suicides/413140/

PP again, in addition, teachers were spotting suicidal thoughts in a number of the student's writing in Princeton Junction. Seems like the administration is more concerned with the whole child than the parents[b].

Yes. This. It almost seems what those parents are putting their kids through is child abuse,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, Princeton Junction - We have relatives who live there. They are Jewish, their adopted Asian son attends HS there. They like the school system as is but their daughter graduated and their son is almost done. Haven't heard any "pressure cooker" complaints but we are an Asian + Jewish family and culturally don't complain about academics being too rigorous.

The log jam seems completely divided along racial lines, Asians and whites (not necessarily Jews).

Eh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is absolutely accurate, with one exception. The reason the Asian parents support the competitive schooling is because that's how it works in Korea and some other countries. It's not because they are immigrants. Apparently, even the competition and stress described in the article are nothing compared to the stress of going to school in Korea. It's a kind of imported culture that has filtered into the schools. However, I have a hard time believing that all the Asian parents support it - I know many Asian parents here in the DC area who agree that the stress and competition is not good for kids. They just don't see a way to opt out without disadvantaging their children.

My son has two Korean kids in his class, whose families moved here "solely" to get away from the brutal competition in Korean schools. It must be crazy.

South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. The leading cause of death for those under 40 is suicide:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_South_Korea

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, Princeton Junction - We have relatives who live there. They are Jewish, their adopted Asian son attends HS there. They like the school system as is but their daughter graduated and their son is almost done. Haven't heard any "pressure cooker" complaints but we are an Asian + Jewish family and culturally don't complain about academics being too rigorous.

The log jam seems completely divided along racial lines, Asians and whites (not necessarily Jews).

I wonder why you refer to your relatives' "adopted Asian son"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is absolutely accurate, with one exception. The reason the Asian parents support the competitive schooling is because that's how it works in Korea and some other countries. It's not because they are immigrants. Apparently, even the competition and stress described in the article are nothing compared to the stress of going to school in Korea. It's a kind of imported culture that has filtered into the schools. However, I have a hard time believing that all the Asian parents support it - I know many Asian parents here in the DC area who agree that the stress and competition is not good for kids. They just don't see a way to opt out without disadvantaging their children.

My son has two Korean kids in his class, whose families moved here "solely" to get away from the brutal competition in Korean schools. It must be crazy.

South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. The leading cause of death for those under 40 is suicide:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_South_Korea

It's the second-leading cause of death in the US for people aged 15-24 and 25-34 (first is unintentional injury, third is homicide).

http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/leading_causes_of_death_by_age_group_2013-a.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^messed up the quotation marks.

The question is, what does "care deeply about education" mean?

Everyone has a different definition thus the culture wars at Princeton.

It's not Princeton, it's Princeton Junction, entirely different school system. Princeton is actually far less of a pressure cooker.

Yes, Princeton Junction - We have relatives who live there. They are Jewish, their adopted Asian son attends HS there. They like the school system as is but their daughter graduated and their son is almost done. Haven't heard any "pressure cooker" complaints but we are an Asian + Jewish family and culturally don't complain about academics being too rigorous.

The log jam seems completely divided along racial lines, Asians and whites (not necessarily Jews).

One can only assume that your relatives don't have the same access to the suicidal thoughts being expressed by the students as the teachers and administrators. Pretty logical conclusion actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, Princeton Junction - We have relatives who live there. They are Jewish, their adopted Asian son attends HS there. They like the school system as is but their daughter graduated and their son is almost done. Haven't heard any "pressure cooker" complaints but we are an Asian + Jewish family and culturally don't complain about academics being too rigorous.

The log jam seems completely divided along racial lines, Asians and whites (not necessarily Jews).

I wonder why you refer to your relatives' "adopted Asian son"?

It's subconscious - asians will always be 'others' in this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, Princeton Junction - We have relatives who live there. They are Jewish, their adopted Asian son attends HS there. They like the school system as is but their daughter graduated and their son is almost done. Haven't heard any "pressure cooker" complaints but we are an Asian + Jewish family and culturally don't complain about academics being too rigorous.

The log jam seems completely divided along racial lines, Asians and whites (not necessarily Jews).

I wonder why you refer to your relatives' "adopted Asian son"?

It's subconscious - asians will always be 'others' in this country.

I'm Asian too. They like the school district bc it is majority Asian. Their "adopted Asian son" feels more comfortable there not being a minority.

[Anonymous]

People on this thread seem to use "Asian" to mean Chinese (and maybe Korean), but actually the majority of "Asians" in this school district are of Indian origin.

http://www.west-windsor-plainsboro.k12.nj.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=17749112

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People on this thread seem to use "Asian" to mean Chinese (and maybe Korean), but actually the majority of "Asians" in this school district are of Indian origin.

http://www.west-windsor-plainsboro.k12.nj.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=17749112

Maybe some but I was the awed by the Chinese and Indian parents poster. They are a lot tougher parents than Koreans.

[Anonymous]

Chinese and Indian parents make Koreans look lax

[Anonymous]

Oh, is it Cultural Stereotype Day today?

[Anonymous]

If the shoe fits

[Anonymous]

Depends on what you call merit.

For many, merit is solely defined by SAT scores and inflated grade point averages...a rather low academic and intellectual bar for the university!

[Anonymous]

I'm Asian, and I don't like the uber competitiveness and stress that some of these kids are going through. Having stated that, I do find it curious that many white parents are now complaining about this type of competitive culture that Asian American kids bring to the table, but all was ok when the wealthier white kids were able to succeed, but the poorer kids (mostly minorities) couldn't keep up. This reminds me a bit of the recent article about how the public wants to treat drug addicts differently now that it's affecting more affluent white kids.

Ding Ding Ding.

When the majority begin to lose at a game it's time to change the rules to restore the order. History is rife with this strategy.