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EVERY school day Dongdong wakes up at 6：20. Still half asleep， his mother has to force him to drag on his clothes and brush his teeth. Within 15 minutes he has to be in the car， ready to leave， which means his breakfast has to be consumed on the way. If it is winter， the sun has not yet risen.
Depending on traffic， if there is no congestion， it will take Dongdong 50 minutes to arrive at Zhongguancun No. 3 Elementary School with the three other students who share the car. When I asked Dongdong about his dreams for the future， the 10-year-old boy said， “To sleep in for once！”
Long Commutes
Dongdong lives about 15 minutes’walk from an elementary school. He travels over 10 kilometers to get to school， not because there is a shortage of schools， but because Dongdong’s mom finds the local school to be mediocre. Zhongguancun No. 3 Elementary School， on the other hand， is one of the best schools in Beijing. Pupils there are more likely to get into a good junior high school， which means better odds at a good senior high school and a good university.
For this reason many parents send their children to schools far away， often relying on relatives， friends or cash to transport their children to one of quality. Once they get in， well-off families try to rent an apartment near the school； those of more modest means， like Dongdong’s family， often co-rent a car to take the kids to school. Poorer families， who can’t afford to rent a car， can only send their kids to school by bus. On buses and subways it is common to see pupils travelling long distances and even falling asleep on the way to school.
Experts recommend that children under 12 sleep at least nine to 10 hours a night. However， Chinese elementary and middle school students are sleeping less and less. According to a 2010 report by the China Youth & Children Research Center， Chinese elementary and middle school students slept seven hours and 37 minutes on average on weekdays， one hour and 22 minutes less than their peers in 2005. Nearly 80 percent of students got insufficient sleep on weekdays and over 70 percent got insufficient sleep even on weekends.
Heavy Burden of Homework
Although school finishes at 3：00 p.m， Dongdong usually doesn’t get home till 5：30 p.m. While mom is cooking， he is doing homework. After dinner he has to do homework for another half an hour.
To improve their rankings and attract high quality students， schools compete each other to outdo the admission rates of famed middle schools. Also， teachers’ salaries are linked to students’ test achievements. For these reasons many schools have high requirements for homework， extra lessons and frequent examinations， especially for higher grade students. In one extreme incident， three 10-year-old students in Jiangxi escaped their homework burdens by jumping off a building together.
Depending on traffic， if there is no congestion， it will take Dongdong 50 minutes to arrive at Zhongguancun No. 3 Elementary School with the three other students who share the car. When I asked Dongdong about his dreams for the future， the 10-year-old boy said， “To sleep in for once！”
Long Commutes
Dongdong lives about 15 minutes’walk from an elementary school. He travels over 10 kilometers to get to school， not because there is a shortage of schools， but because Dongdong’s mom finds the local school to be mediocre. Zhongguancun No. 3 Elementary School， on the other hand， is one of the best schools in Beijing. Pupils there are more likely to get into a good junior high school， which means better odds at a good senior high school and a good university.
For this reason many parents send their children to schools far away， often relying on relatives， friends or cash to transport their children to one of quality. Once they get in， well-off families try to rent an apartment near the school； those of more modest means， like Dongdong’s family， often co-rent a car to take the kids to school. Poorer families， who can’t afford to rent a car， can only send their kids to school by bus. On buses and subways it is common to see pupils travelling long distances and even falling asleep on the way to school.
Experts recommend that children under 12 sleep at least nine to 10 hours a night. However， Chinese elementary and middle school students are sleeping less and less. According to a 2010 report by the China Youth & Children Research Center， Chinese elementary and middle school students slept seven hours and 37 minutes on average on weekdays， one hour and 22 minutes less than their peers in 2005. Nearly 80 percent of students got insufficient sleep on weekdays and over 70 percent got insufficient sleep even on weekends.
Heavy Burden of Homework
Although school finishes at 3：00 p.m， Dongdong usually doesn’t get home till 5：30 p.m. While mom is cooking， he is doing homework. After dinner he has to do homework for another half an hour.
To improve their rankings and attract high quality students， schools compete each other to outdo the admission rates of famed middle schools. Also， teachers’ salaries are linked to students’ test achievements. For these reasons many schools have high requirements for homework， extra lessons and frequent examinations， especially for higher grade students. In one extreme incident， three 10-year-old students in Jiangxi escaped their homework burdens by jumping off a building together.