A current issues class at East High School discovered firsthand Friday that Japanese students aren't so very different from Utah students.
Japanese students attend crowded classes sometimes taught by poorly prepared teachers in an education system gasping for more money. In fact, the complaints of the Japanese students and faculty are nearly identical to complaints heard here in Utah.The East High honors class participated in an unprecedented live satellite link between itself and a class of Japanese students. The one-hour link happened at 6 p.m. Friday in the AT&T Salt Lake conference room and at 10 a.m. Saturday in Tokyo. High school students from Matsumoto - Salt Lake's sister city in Japan - traveled to Tokyo for an exchange of questions and answers between the two classes during the brief link.
Gov. Norm Bangerter was on hand to make a few brief remarks to the Japanese class, along with several AT&T and Salt Lake School District officials.
Students in the East High class grapple with tough economic issues facing this country, said John Dibble, an East High parent who helped create the class.
The satellite link was intended to help East High students understand why Japanese students are better prepared to excel in the world market than they are. But the exchanges between the two groups revealed more similarities than differences.
Japanese students enjoy sports and extracurricular activities. They work at part-time jobs - often for American companies like Kentucky Fried Chicken - help with chores at home and like to date, "play and do things with friends."
The East High seniors talked to the Japanese class via three large video monitors. A Japanese interpreter in the Salt Lake conference room translated English remarks into Japanese and Japanese remarks into English for both classes.
Japanese students asked about drug problems in the United States and spoke repeatedly of U.S. freedoms. "The United States has so much more freedom than Japan. How do you feel?" one Japanese student asked.
"We have a lot more freedom, but that has its bad points since our economy is dropping so quickly," an East High student replied. "We have a lot of freedom to express creativity, but we need a lot more structure in our schools and government to help us."
If Japanese students are better educated than U.S. students, it isn't because of bigger budgets, better teachers or smaller classes. East High principal Kay Peterson asked Japanese students about all of those factors.
He was surprised to learn that Japanese students average 46 students per class and "there are few teachers who are worthy of our greatest respect," a Japanese student said.
One of the Japanese teachers also explained that Japanese schools desperately need more money for education, but the Japanese government says it is too poor to give the school more.
East High and Japanese students also compared curriculums and found them very similar.
If there is a difference, it is perhaps in the commitment of the students themselves. Japanese students study several hours a day for their classes. In addition, students interested in going to a college or university must take a major test in December.
One student said she studied three hours a day for the test in addition to her school studies. Despite her rigorous study, she said she failed the test. "There are many others who really study a lot more," she said.
The Japanese youngsters were very focused on their academics. Asked their opinion on events in Eastern Europe, a Japanese spokesman replied simply, "I am not interested in Eastern Europe."
Asked what their impressions of America were, Japanese students said, "America society is free and very democratic. American teenagers have freedom."