[Commentary] Korean students¡¯ contentment gap is wide

It is relative whether you feel content or discontent with life. Some feel content with life even if they are poor, while others feel discontent with life even if they have abundant money. Your level of contentment about yourself often depends on where you place your objectives and expectations.

How about our young boys and girls? Recently many children replied ¡°entertainer,¡± ¡°animator,¡± rather than the more traditional answers to the question of, ¡°What do you want to be when you grow up?¡± However, ¡°president,¡± ¡°minister,¡± ¡°doctor,¡± ¡°professor¡± and other high-level jobs still account for the majority of wishes.

In the United States, students with Korean heritage score outstanding grades in their academic work. Some newly immigrated Korean students are the subject of a study for American scholars because they do outstandingly well in their academic work despite their limitations in English. However, the levels of self-contentment of these Korean students who do well in school are surprisingly low, as discovered in a survey. On the other hand, African Americans and Caucasians, who do not match up to Korean students in studies, are found to be more content with their lives.

The results of the Korea Institute for Youth Development¡¯s study on youths of four nations -- namely Korea, the United States, Japan and France -- now are available. The study was conducted to measure the sense of value among youths in each target nation.

What caught attention in the study was a survey conducted on contentment. According to the survey, Korean youths¡¯ contentment was 37.2%, meaning the majority of the youths are living discontentedly. On the other hand, the same measure among the youths in the United States was 88.9% and for France 70.6%, considerably higher than our youths.

We can¡¯t just single out the weak educational environment or the hell of university entrance examinations as the causes, because they reflect most our sense of values and ways of thinking.

We parents have excessive expectations for our children. We have greed that our children must attend a prestigious college and live well, regardless of other children. These excessive expectations might partially motivate our children with their studies. On the other hand, these expectations bring despair to the children who are poor in their studies. Moreover, those students who do well in studies even chronically feel somewhat nervous. Consequently, our youths can¡¯t afford a contented life. This is in fact true for everyone, not just the youths.

Is there any way we could wisely adjust our expectations in life according to our abilities?

Hong Chan-Sik chansik@donga.com