Japanese schools embody respect, responsibility
2005/02/15　By Gerald Peterson, 17, with contribution from Pryce Hadley, 15

At the door of your school or workplace, do you exchange your tennis shoes for slippers? Do you bow to your teacher or boss before the start of class or work? In Japan , this is considered the norm.

　At the private Shiga Gakuen High School in Higashiomi, we noticed many differences from Upper Peninsula high schools. Unlike most U.P. schools, many public and private Japanese schools have strict dress codes that include winter and summer uniforms. Perhaps the most well known uniform is the sailor-type outfits featured in popular Japanese cartoons such as Sailor Moon.

　At Shiga Gakuen, students stay in one class all day. Instead of students switching classrooms like they do here, teachers switch rooms to accommodate the students.

　At Shiga Gakuen, students choose from three high school “paths,” or study courses. There is a path with an academic curriculum of math, science, social studies and language classes as are common in the United States . Another path is a sports course with less emphasis on academic studies so the students can devote more time to training. Finally, there is a welfare course where students learn to take care of the old and sick. They are taught essential nursing skills such as cleaning, bathing patients, and performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

　Shiga Gakuen also offers a wide variety of sports including soccer, baseball, track and field, martial arts, American football, marksmanship and many others. No matter what path the students choose, they generally seem to like staying active.

　To help support the students' active lifestyles, there is a food program, which not only is important for their nutrition, but also teaches responsibility. Although the staff prepares the food, the students are responsible for everything else. Students go to a food station or cafeteria and are served by a group of fellow students. Then they take their food back to their classrooms for lunch.

　After their meals, the students completely clean up after them selves. This carries over to other aspects of the school environment. The school doesn't employ janitors, so students are responsible for maintaining a clean and functioning school environment. Though it may seem like a burden, the students take pride in their school and their responsibilities ? more so than the average American student.