Tutoring Continued

I taught English to an 8th grader today. He is a son of my mother’s friend. To be honest, I was a bit hesitant to tutor this boy because I heard that he was not only struggling academically but also lacking motivation to learn. I felt like my mother’s friend was trying to force me to take care of a trouble that she could not resolve for herself. But, at the same time, I thought it could be useful for me to develop skills to work with a student who is not motivated (because I will probably encounter such a college student in the future).

In Japan there are a fair number of school-age kids who seclude themselves in their rooms and refuse to come out. Usually, parents of these kids are a little strange, at least from my perspective: they bring meals everyday to doors of rooms where their kids shut themselves in even when they no longer talk to each other. That is, these parents don’t seem to know how to communicate with their kids. I suspect that a number of self-secluding kids has been increasing. (It’s not simply due to growing attention from mass media.) But why? I wonder whether the postwar Japanese social system, which enabled the rapid reconstruction and economic growth, had various flows, one of which may be the production of uncommunicative youths who became uncommunicative parents. Ugh, what a simple-minded answer!

Anyway, the 8th-grade boy turned out to be all right. He speaks little, but he doesn’t look thoughtless. I will do my best to help him during the summer vacation, but I believe it’s ultimately up to his parents to support him both emotionally and academically.