Don't you wish your school had looked like this

Bonsai Barry

I'm currently visiting Saijo City Japan (not on the tourist map). This is a small town on the island of Shikoku. I've have been visiting several schools and the gardens of Saijo City High School caught my eye. The school buildings are nondescript five-stories high. But the grounds are exceptional. The school is located on a former ancient castle with the moat and entrance still intact. Makes a nice setting for a school, I must say.

Attached Images

	garden Ehime Prefecture Saijo City High School 077.jpg (63.2 KB, 105 views)
	garden Ehime Prefecture Saijo City High School 003.jpg (67.2 KB, 108 views)
	garden Ehime Prefecture Saijo City High School 006.jpg (58.6 KB, 111 views)
	Garden Ehime Prefecture Saijo City High School Overhead.jpg (60.7 KB, 134 views)
	Garden Ehime Prefecture Saijo City High School 004.jpg (59.1 KB, 102 views)

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Bonsai Barry

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jjeter

Talk about a difference in culture. Over here, a school ground like that would be trashed in a couple of days.

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Jeff

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jeremy_norbury

I imagine that the kids might even get involved in the care of such a garden. If that were the case over here (US, whatever) I would not expect the kids to trash it. In Amsterdam there's a large "School Garden" - where multiple schools have gardening lessons. Each kid has their own patch where they must grow flowers, herbs, vegetables, salads etc. The kids actually take pride in that place - no litter, no mess, no grafitti...
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=....00302&t=h&z=18

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BarbaraM

California public school kids can do limited "grounds maintenence" due to union rules. Kids tending gardens beyond the class vegie patch is "supplanting union labor" and therefore a violation of labor rules. Union employees have opposed the Saturday "work detention" programs because students were doing labor that a union employee could get paid to do. Eager students couldn't even paint the pathetic bathrooms at our high school last year unless they bought the paint with outside money because if the materials are purchased with public school funds a union employee must apply the paint. Now with the budget crisis and the deferred maintenence monies cut by the state the union labor rules are going to be challenged by our district.

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lanig

In japanese schools indeed, most of the cleaning (including toilets) is done by the kids...Moreover, Shikoku is a little bit apart and its way of life is more traditionnal than in most cities of Honshu.

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Nerfgunn

Its sad to say, but that nice garden would be trashed, graffiti would be all over it, and kids would throw their garbage all over it, if it were over here. High schoolers 'excuse my language' just shit all over everything around here. Its too bad. Nobody can do anything nice for fear it will not be maintained. ugh... just venting, i need to move.

ElGringo

They tried to do a scheme like that at my old school. Students were paid £10 to come in at the end of the hols and help clean up. I was working in the geography dept., we had recently been learning about S.America so myself and a couple of others painted a rainforest scene all along one wall in memory. I wonder if it's still there? No doubt been painted over by now.

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Richard

ozzy

Yes thats what I was going to say too, different values I guess, plus in our case its well known by the kids that they're untouchable, we've pretty well done away with any form of punishment and don't the kids know it, if they trashed the garden an army of pyschologists and other associated hangers on would claim the kids did this because their father yelled at them when they were three and its not their fault so they can hereby be absolved from any further responsibilty.

JayC

Come on Ozzy, its not that bad in Australia!

Well i am a high school kid....... does that mean I'm going to spam on here and swear? NO!

Don't always blame the high school kids, some of us are alright.....no stereotypes please.

Barry, how big is the pine/cedar, in that landscape? its hard to get a perspective on the size of that thing, but the size of the building in the background makes me think its bigger than what i thought originally.

JayC