What Would Holden Do?

It just occurred to me that maybe these kids aren't all geniuses, I think it's just that they're driven (by whom? By what? I certainly wasn't driven by anything when I was teenager other than the desire to stay in bed till noon. That and playing with myself). There have been a few student holidays recently but a lot of the kids come to school anyway, either to study or to practice. I run an after-school English club - that is, I sit there and try to be interesting for 45 minutes while the two girls that bother to show up giggle continuously - and I managed to drag out of one girl that she studies and does homework until 10pm most nights, and so do most other students. 10pm?! Crikey, these kids don't leave school til 6pm as it is, and then they go home and do more work til bedtime? No wonder the third grade homework (who I don't teach) this week was "Violent crimes by teenagers is on the rise in Japan. Please write 500 words on why you think this is."