In the world’s highest-performing educational systems in Asia, students are not just learning, they are surviving. In Korea and China, students are substituting basic health requirements for the cost of academic success. While these highly competitive systems are producing academically strong students, this system raises a critical question: at what cost? People argue that ethical educational systems, such as the American system, that prioritize wellbeing and balanced development of pressures leading to individual growth are what every student deserves.
High-pressure Asian educational systems that impose unsustainable workloads are harming students’ physical and mental health. These systems that normalize exhaustion as a requirement for success and an A+ are turning the concept of overworking into an expectation.
As a student who experienced both systems, constant studying until midnight has given me sleeping problems as well as immense daily stress. My mental health deteriorated as I tried to endure the fear of not being good enough under an ignorant mask of always having to be smart. Interviewing a student from China, Angelina Zhang, she gave further insight into how many Chinese students in Asia have barely any time for themselves. Zhang mentioned, “My cousin’s brother, a middle schooler, stays up until around 2 AM for homework and wakes up at 6 AM.”
Statistics from the OECD indicate that the average student in Korea sleeps around five hours, and over 70% of Chinese students reported high academic stress. Still, many parents believe that the rigor and discipline of their children in this suffocating educational system will lead to high achievement and success in life. Nonetheless, this discipline is leading students to feel endless chronic exhaustion and failing health conditions over a number on a report card.
Systems that fail to ethically support a student’s mental health and ignore signs of distress have led to a shift of priority from stability and happiness to performance. Harmful environments are constantly normalized and encouraged to persist, with no one willing to intervene. With no standard of ethics and a never-ending pile of assignments, in Korea, it was impossible for me to eat or sleep like a normal person. I was one of many amongst my peers who had to take medication to stay awake for the next day.
Zhang stated, “mental health is practically never mentioned in China… but is everywhere in America and EF.” And with unrealistic expectations, students suffer from a great fear of being a failure, rather than resorting to self-harm and suicide. Zhang, also facing similar experiences, said that her mental health improved significantly after leaving a country (school) that “rather put up bars to prevent harm than to put up posters for mental health.”
South Korea has the highest youth suicide rates, and academic pressure is being identified as a major contributing factor. With stereotypes that are normalized in Korea, such that mental health is something to be ashamed of or a personal limitation, distress is widespread for a systemic issue. Ethical education must be further enhanced to actively support the well-being of countless scared teenagers.
Students are reduced to their academic performance, damaging their identity and self-worth, and are being dehumanized by grades. With many facing additional parental pressure alongside the academic expectations, they are seen as a tool for competition to be the “best.” These systems limit human value to measuring numerics rather than growth, characteristics, and potential.
Going to an IB school (8 is the highest grade achievable) in Korea, where 6 was a reason for students to cry their hearts out, I always thought grades determined my value as a person. In Zhang’s school, people had opinions such as, “If you’re stupid in school, then you’re stupid at everything, labeled as being hopeless.” These aren’t just some funny jokes that only Asian students believe. These beliefs and ranking systems that only merit-based success in school determines the entire future of a person have created fear and shame where students are dying over.
Moving to America in my junior year, where the education system was balanced and more of an ethical model of learning, teamwork wasn’t a war zone to fight over a slightly greater part. This change has given me new insights that were far more valuable than countless essays I had to write. With long-term success as the goal for American schools where teachers were there to help, not to fail or criticize students, I slowly began to develop creativity and well-being.
Expectation wasn’t impossible, and I was able to quit the medications I took in Korea that made me nauseous at the sight of any food. I learned to value progress over perfection, participating in leadership roles, collaboration, and happiness. Zhang has also found herself happier, and mentioned that, “In America, there is a balance between doing the things you love and a good level of stress and work,” where creativity isn’t structured, and there are no endless rules and expectations.
As U.S. schools increasingly implement social-emotional learning (SEL) programs, research shows that students in balanced environments show higher engagement and long-term success. Even though some may claim that the less rigorous American educational system will produce weaker academic success, leading to failures, education shouldn’t be solely based on test scores. Achievements with joy instead of fear that promote creativity and adaptability are what will determine long-term success.
Educational systems should not be judged by unrealistic academic expectations or by how many hours someone has slept. It should be based on ethical standards that push students to grow, not survive. Therefore, the Asian educational system, built primarily on peer, academic, and parental pressure that urges constant competition, is the true definition of failure.
