Journal Writing as Homework 夏休みの日記

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I hated to write daily journals, in particular journals assigned as homework during summer vacations when I was an elementary school student. I went to four Japanese elementary schools and all of them gave such homework.

I hated it because I was bad at it according to teachers. They said that my entries were too simple, telling me to describe how I felt in more detail. But why did I have to describe my feelings to others? To me, writing journals sucked and these teachers telling students to describe their feelings sucked. I was a usual pre-teenager.

I have been able to write posts for this blog for the last ten months because I don't have to lie to myself or entertain or amuse others. I still believe that assigning students to keep journals as homework and forcing students to write about their feelings doesn't do any good to them but teaches how to deceive themselves.

日本の小学校に4つ通ったが、どこの小学校でも夏休みの宿題に日記があった。そしてどの学校でも「もっと思ったことを書きなさい」と先生に言われました。でもなんで他人のあんたに私の気持ちを書かなきゃいけないの？というのが正直な気持ちでした。日記なんてくそ、気持ちを書けという先生なんてくそ！という感じでした。

このブログを始めてからほぼ10か月たちますが、続けられているのはうそをつかなくていいこと、誰かのために書かなくてもいいからです。自分の気持ちを書くことを強制するような宿題は、子供にうそをつくことを教えるため以外、何の役にも立たないと思います。