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"Our children spend years
within an outdated education system, studying subjects they will never use,
preparing for a world that no longer exists."
This quote by Robert Kiyosaki, American writer and
entrepreneur, was published by a member of the Hikikomori Italia Facebook group.A heated
discussion about the modern school system arose under the post, with several
very critical comments.
Most hikikomori, in fact, have developed a particularly negative view of
school, often seeing it as one of the maincauses of their
withdrawal. Their school refusal does not depend exclusively on anxiety or
fear, but also on a deeply rooted rational as well as evaluative component.
About peers...
"The education of most
young people is bad. This leads them to embrace fake life values (wealth,
popularity, fashion, etc.), which spread and become the criterion for
normalizing themselves."
"They often denigrated and made fun of me,furthering my isolation. No one ever asked me how I was doing."
"I only talked to three people. Others either ignored me or laughed at me."
"I felt left out,
different and distant from others. No one ever really knew me, no one ever
really cared about me."
"I went out of my way to
seek out deep friendships, but I only found self-centred people who were
incapable of telling the truth."
It is clear from these quotes how hikikomori struggle to identify with their peers, perceiving themselves as more mature and humanly sensitiveindividuals.
Contrary to what one might think, few complained about overt bullying. The main suffering seems to result from the lack of interest that classmates show towards them, as evidence of how loneliness and isolation do not begin behind closed doors, but already in the school environment. The leap is not as marked as it might seem.
Another aspect that partially emerges from this survey, that I have also noticed in many other hikikomori stories, is their need to establish "deep" connections, rejecting any other type of emotional bond beforehand, because perceived as fake or pointless.
A guy once told me: "For me, friendship doesn't exist, there is
only love. I don't think I've ever felt friendship."
About Professors...
"There are often strict
professors who walk over the needs of the pupils themselves."
"Professors should take pedagogyand educational science exams."
"In order to become a teacher,
one should first take psychological fitness tests. To do that job you need a
lot of patience, professionalism and the ability to get people interested”.
"They thought I had problems because I never
interacted with them, except under prompting. Sometimes they would just tell my
parents that I needed a therapist, totally ignoring the fact that I felt
uncomfortable within the school environment (for other reasons)."
"I think if there had been some really valuable
teachers in my schooling, I might have been better today."
These quotes confirm the strongly negative view that hikikomorioften have towards teachers. In particular, they seem to suffer from the absence of human connection that went beyond the mere transmission of skills.
I would like to point out that not all the responses I received were negative. Some reported that they received support from teachers, or that they had nothing to complain about their behaviour.
However, it seems evident howthe figure of the teacher needs to evolve,
equipping it with more psycho-pedagogical tools, in order to make teachers able
to relate effectively and empathetically with their students, grasping their
needs and supporting them in their difficulties, both scholastic and human.
About
subjects...
"I would change the poor flexibility in choosing different educational paths."
"More emphasis should be placed on subjects like Literature and Philosophy, in order to get kids more excited about reading."
"Today you need to learn
how to livewithout damaging Earth."
Here a strong and concrete necessityarises. What these young people are asking school, almost in chorus, is to teach them to face life.
As I stressed in this video, the school should restore
dignity to all those subjects that have been devalued within the current
capitalist model of society, primarily Philosophy, Psychology, Art and Religion.
Many, considering these subjects not very useful to get a job, argue that it is
correct to sacrifice them in favour of scientific subjects. In my opinion, this
is a misguided line of reasoning.
Studying humanities is not an end in itself: it helps individuals develop
essential skills to understand their own nature, master their existential chaos, and build a solid identity
structure.
About methodology...
"Giving marks, together withthe forced integration system, lead the most introverted ones to isolate themselves."
"We have a school system that is too mnemonic and theoretical, thus getting high grades is not an indication of true competence or intelligence, but good memory."
"It seems as the main purpose is to train people with as many skills as possible in order to be ready for the 'war of work'. Yet in doing so, we lose sight of what I think is the most important thing: to train people, certainly competent, but above all happy or at least healthy."
"The school is subject to
the demands of the market and society, now based on principles of efficiency
and recommendation, therefore schools no longer think about the personal,
educational and psychological growth of the individual."
"School should be a place
that is open all day and to everyone."
These quotes confirm what was said above and reinforce the demand by young people for a school that does not prostrates itself at the service of society, but on the contrary, has the strength to guide its changes, fighting against the logicsof the market. In other words, young people are asking schools to show more courage.
A criticism about the grade-based system also arises, whose effectiveness has already been questioned more than once by severalexperts, but to date (with a few rare exceptions) it remains, probably due to inertia, the main method worldwide.
Finally, the last quote seems to call out for a rethinking of the school
environment, starting with the concept of space. Especially in Italy,
school is perceived as a transitory place, with rigid schedules, that we can't
wait to leave as soon as the bell rings.
Yet we must have the ability to imagine a flexible and inclusive school.
A place that is not only aimed at learning, but a place to live at 360 degrees,
where it would be possible to engage in recreational activities, sports and
where to cultivate passions.
Conclusions
The modern education system is largely based on
outdated principles, and today theconsequences are showing upstronger than
ever.
That of the hikikomori is a silent but deafening protest. It is a clear and
total refusal, which certainly cannot be solved through simple interventions on
the individuals, perhaps trying to convince them in every way to return to that
environment that is for them a source of great suffering, an environment
which theyview as the reflection of the malfunctioning of a society in which
they no longer recognize themselves as an integral part.
We must then interpret the hikikomori as
an opportunity for growth. We must listen to their protest, understand the reasons for their
discomfort and adjust what does not work. Designing alternative forms of
education, opening ourselves to new ways of teaching that are more flexible and
consider the enormous personal differences.
The school should not have the task of standardizing,
but rather that ofenhancing individual talents that everyonehas. If this
is not the case, school dropouts in the coming years will increase
dramatically, and we will find ourselves wondering, for the umpteenth time,
where we went wrong.