Educating Children
By CHRISTINE CUNANAN-NOMURA
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子供の教育
子供の教育
日本の若者の間で、自分本位な行動や
いつまでも親に頼って自立しない生活、
お金やモノばかり追い求める風潮が
まん延しているそうだが、それが本当なら
子供の教育を見直すべきではないか。
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The columns of respected commentators Takamitsu Sawa
and Ryuichiro Hosokawa in The Japan Times recently
caught my eye because these were on related topics.
On July 3, Mr. Sawa wrote about the growing
materialism ,and the lack of intellectual values of
young Japanese today. The following day, Mr. Hosokawa
declared that Japan is on the brink of moral
bankruptcy since many Japanese live comfortably but are
becoming selfish and losing compassion for others.
As a foreigner, I am not in a position to judge
whether these opinions are true. However, if these are
accurate assessments of Japanese youth, I think it is a
tragic development for Japan.
I believe that a country that prospers financially or
materially but fails to develop an ethical or
spiritual side at the same time will definitely become an
irrational and selfish society.
The main goal of each person in such a society will be
the pursuit of material needs . And, of course, people
who constantly pursue material things never really
become happy because nothing will completely fulfill
them and there will always be some
thing better to buy.
To avoid such a situation in the future, Japanese
young people must be taught moral values, to think of
"money" within the right perspective and how to
appreciate the truly important things in life, such as
family, relationships, and finding one's real purpose
for living.
Unfortunately, while many Japanese today acknowledge
the need for such an education, they believe that these
lessons should be taught in school. I think this is very
wrong.
The best educators of children are parents, and the
most important lessons of life are learned at home.
Teachers cannot replace parents, they can only support
parents' work. Whether they want to or not, people who
decide to have children are mainly responsible for
ensuring that they will become good, sensible and
useful adults.
Finally, after reading the two columns, I couldn't
help but think about the "parasite singles" who
have been featured in the Japanese media over the past
year. These are young people in their 20s and 30s who
earn well but live at home, paying a token rent to
their parents. The lack of respon
sibilities discourages them from committing to
marriage and allows them to spend all their income on
fancy cars, designer clothes and luxury travel.
In contrast, many young people outside Japan are
taught values such as independence in the United States
and the importance of family and sharing one's resources
in Asia. Young people in the U.S. often pay for their own
college education and start saving for a home or the
future as soon as they get a job.
In Asia, many young people regularly support a younger
relative at school, help pay for the care of a sick
relative or contribute to the family income once they
get a job, out of gratitude to their parents. We
believe that our efforts "help lighten the load" of
our parents.
I should probably do more. However, last summer, I
invited my parents to take a one-month driving trip to
Spain with me, all-expenses-paid so that they could
really feel they were on holiday. I plan to do this again
sometime soon because I feel it's the least I can do to
repay them for their past sacrifices for me.
Shukan ST: July 21, 2000
(C) All rights reserved
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