Today, while reading “One Hundred Thousand Whys” (Medical and Health section), I came across the part “Why should we rest for 10 minutes after each class?” which deeply moved me. At first, I was still thinking “10 minutes break is too little, maybe 20 minutes”; but after reading the quotes from Chairman Mao and the significance of the break, I couldn’t help but recall my past experiences in a capitalist school.
"A 10-minute break, on one hand, allows students to engage in active activities and eliminate fatigue; on the other hand, it ensures proper ventilation in the classroom and keeps the air fresh. Therefore, after the bell rings for class, students should all leave the classroom to go outside and open windows to let fresh air in. Some students continue reading, reciting, or doing homework after class, which is an undesirable habit and should not be promoted.
“Rigid and dull teaching, consecutive classes of the same subject, polluted air, insufficient lighting, unsuitable desks and chairs, excessive homework burden, students’ lack of sleep, and illnesses can all affect the quality of classroom teaching. Teachers, parents, and students should pay attention to these issues.”
In the fascist capitalist institution of middle school I attended, students had no freedom, and the so-called 10-minute break system was merely a formality; students did not actually get enough rest. Not to mention that the courses filled with rigid classics and cumbersome data already strained students’ minds to the limit, and the institution even deprived students of their break time.
When I was in middle school, the academic pressure was heavy, and often I had to spend a lot of my rest time to catch up on homework and deal with the tasks assigned by the old teachers. Moreover, through long-term academic opportunism, I developed serious opportunistic thoughts: on one hand, I simply couldn’t continue with the obscure and difficult coursework that was “anti-human”; on the other hand, I was unwilling to see my grades and rankings decline, so I studied frantically, sometimes skipping meals, relying only on a few steamed buns and some milk.
Additionally, my worldview and thoughts were limited by the long-term life in the capitalist school, and I also cultivated extreme individualism through long-term indulgence activities—such as viewing pornography, playing games, and online dating—which interacted with each other, leading to extreme spiritual emptiness. During my obsession with academic opportunism, I had no time to rest because of the heavy coursework. When I became disillusioned with the academic pursuits, I would indulge in pleasures (which are just small indulgences in big lusts), spending class time reminiscing about pornography, the bourgeois games I played, etc., to pass the time; after class, I would be antisocial due to my introverted personality (which was also caused by the extreme individualism and oppression of the institution), and I would just lie on the desk or sleep to escape the oppression, fantasizing about a petty bourgeois “Peach Blossom Land”.
I vividly remember the so-called lunch break, which was mostly used by us students to rush through homework; when the homework pressure was lighter, I would sleep wildly during this time. I looked forward to sleeping deeply during lunch break, hoping to have a good dream to temporarily escape the oppressive institution; waking up from the dream would leave me very disappointed. The same was true for break times. Overall, I was completely exhausted, practically unable to stand up or leave my desk except for eating, going to the bathroom, or handing in homework. I had almost no “lively exercise” (whether physically or mentally) at school; at home, I would either bury myself in homework or indulge in pleasures on the bed.
At that time, my entire life and thoughts were muddled. Although I had initially come into contact with Marxism, I did not truly accept it. I didn’t see any meaning in life besides the fleeting pleasures that numb my mind. I lived this two-point life, my thoughts imprisoned by capitalist education and decayed culture, and I was also confined by capitalism itself, living a life day after day, month after month.
After entering high school, the fascist oppression of the institution intensified unprecedentedly, and the “10-minute break” became a complete lie. They claimed there was a 10-minute break between classes, but in reality, there was only about 8 minutes of activity, and in the eighth minute, a “preparatory bell” would ring (which I also experienced in elementary and middle school, but it was never enforced as strictly as in high school), then students had to return to the classroom to preview the next lesson, supposedly to “enter the learning state early and show respect to the teachers.” I remember clearly once I went to the bathroom during break, and after the preparatory bell rang, I came out of the bathroom. I was immediately seen by a patrol teacher, who ordered me to stop. He questioned why I was still wandering outside at that time. I knew he wouldn’t be reasonable, but I still tried to explain with anger. However, the teacher didn’t want or intend to reason: he asked for my reason, I explained, but before I finished, he interrupted with accusations of “violating school rules” and criticized me, and only after being reprimanded could I return to the classroom. This is a typical behavior of those teachers: they don’t want to debate or change anything, just want to catch you, scold you, make you uncomfortable and unable to rebut, and they enjoy it.
In fact, these 8 minutes are completely insufficient. Our high school used a rotating class system, so students didn’t have fixed classrooms, often running around with textbooks and backpacks to change classrooms after class. Our coursework was heavy, and our sleep was scarce, often facing the dilemma of getting water, going to the bathroom, napping, or doing homework. My health was also damaged by long-term academic work, with poor digestion, frequent diarrhea or constipation, and not enough time even for bathroom breaks, let alone rest. Being outdoors to breathe fresh air, look at clouds or the moon, was very rare (because our school buildings were enclosed). As for the large break, most of the time was spent running around and listening to the teachers’ threats and scare tactics (the most memorable was when a student from a certain class was late for morning reading and was caught on camera, resulting in points deduction).
“Brilliant sunshine shines on the five-star red flag, on the school playground, corridors, and outside the classrooms, everywhere filled with laughter and joy, lively crowds, some chatting, some singing, some playing jump rope, some playing ball…” This paragraph might be similar to the kind of sentences we had in elementary school, but we never truly experienced such life.
In my second year of high school, the school briefly implemented a more oppressive policy: No free activity during evening self-study or break time, not even lying on desks to rest, maintaining the same study state as during class; going to the bathroom or getting water required reporting, and no more than three students could leave the classroom at the same time. Fortunately, this policy was stopped after protests from students.
Moreover, at that time, we had to wake up at 5:30 every morning and rush to morning reading, then have breakfast, attend classes, and start a day of academic life, making life even more bleak. I gradually developed the habit of looking out the window on the balcony after lights out, when the dormitory supervisor, teachers, and student union were not around, to observe the outside scenery (luckily, the balconies of my first and second-year dormitories faced outside and were in the corner of the school, so I could see the construction site and the road outside the wall; otherwise, I would have been suffocated). I loved looking at the sky. I still remember once dreaming that after lights out in the dormitory, I looked up at the sky from the balcony, and saw that the light pollution had finally dissipated, the moon and stars became very bright and beautiful, and there were a few huge, beautiful planets in the night sky.
My classmates also told me about nightmares where they escaped from the exaggerated school walls, only to be caught by a notorious teacher-turned-knight. That teacher once scolded him harshly just for talking loudly in the bathroom, and later targeted him multiple times.
Fortunately, by high school, especially in the second year, I had delved deeper into Marxism and increasingly identified with it. I also worked harder to use Marxism to guide and transform my life, fighting against the teachers, the oppressive institution, and seeking freedom of time and rights, gradually using my free time to repay the teachings that liberated me.
*"A few words to the youth:
- Congratulations on your good health;
- Congratulations on your good studies;
- Congratulations on your good work."*
“I propose increasing the students’ sleep time by another hour. Now it is eight hours, but in fact, only six or seven hours are slept, and many feel sleep-deprived. It is necessary to set a nine-hour sleep schedule. This should be ordered without discussion and enforced strictly. Youths must sleep well, and teachers must also get enough sleep.”
“Revolution brings many benefits, but also a drawback: everyone is too enthusiastic and energetic, leading to overfatigue. Now, we must ensure everyone is healthy—workers, peasants, soldiers, students, and cadres. Of course, good health does not necessarily mean good learning; there are some methods for studying.”
“Now, middle school students have more class time, which can be appropriately reduced. Active members should also have fewer meetings. Both studying and entertainment, rest, and sleep should be well balanced. Worker, peasant, and soldier youths are learning on the job, and their work, study, entertainment, rest, and sleep should also be balanced.”
“Both ends must be tightened: study and work should be accelerated, and sleep, rest, and entertainment should also be accelerated. In the past, only one end was emphasized, and the other was neglected or not emphasized at all. Now, some entertainment should be added, with time and equipment, and this end should also be accelerated. The Central Committee has already decided to reduce the number of meetings and study time, and you should supervise the implementation. Anyone who does not comply should be questioned.”
“In short, the goal is to make the youth healthy, study well, and work well. Some leaders only focus on youth work without caring for the youth’s health; you should remind them with this phrase. The reason is to better foster the growth of the younger generation. Our generation has suffered losses because adults did not take care of children. Adults have tables when they eat, but children do not. Children have no voice at home; crying gets a slap. Now, the new China must change its policies and think for the youth.”
—— Mao Zedong, “The Youth League’s Work Must Consider the Characteristics of Youth,” June 30, 1953.
One Hundred Thousand Whys 13 Medical and Health.pdf (3.0 MB)