Perhaps it is just a trainning for the stock crisis.
Run Lola run !!!

"The Beijing News quoted teachers at a city school who complained that there was no space to have all the students run. They also said that students are usually too tired to focus in class after running. Beijing has barred schools from allowing students to run in streets and alleys following reports of students involved in traffic accidents in other parts of the country."---article

That's nonsense that students are too tired to focus after their run. If anything the health benefits of running make someone focus more. After lunch with all the food in one's belly and all the blood rushing there to aid in digestion one could make the argument that it is worse for focus than running. Barring kids from running in the streets is stupid. Ban the damn cars. F-Cars!

Seriously, this is a good policy. 2000 meters is nothing, only about one mile. People always say how Olympics did not cause athletic spirit among normal people, but now that there are some attempts at doing that, people complain it's too much work. Most of the complaints are about symbolic 60 anniversary thing, and if it's 120 anniversary, do students have to do 120 km? They are making a mountain out of a mole hole.

1.2km isn't too far. The student who died must have had a serious physical problem.

my gosh, that is my school, i mean August First...we ran 1000m in winter everyday, we did not have a good playground to run indeed by then, but we ran surounded the whole school on the road. Maybe it is kind of dangerous to run on the busy street nowadays, but...one student died doesn't mean all students can't run...
why so many controversies these days...people get nothing to do, i miss those old good day, when we were students, we didn't have mobile phones, laptop, Ipod, but we did enjoy running and playing basketball or pingpong after school...

Seriously, this is a good policy. 2000 meters is nothing, only about one mile. People always say how Olympics did not cause athletic spirit among normal people
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olympic athletes don't have crap load of homework and extra-class.

they also have multiple sexual acquaintances I think.

@peteryang
What? They also run 1000 times the distance every day. And you want students to have multiple sex acquaintances? What's wrong with you? I hate this attitude of "Oh-no-everybody-have-it-better-than-me-so-I-will-complain-all-day". Seriously that's all I see on Chinese BBS these days.

Didn't people complain that Olympics didn't bring policies that it's suppose to do, as in make China a more athletic nation. Isn't this the policy you have been waiting for?

I just think schools have too much leverage on student's life, seriously, I feel sad for today's chinese students, they can't do a thing they want. When I was in 初中 all I did each day were homework and bike-riding to home, I'd cry my ass out if I got 30 minutes on the evening to play computer games.

Then I went abroad for college and university, it was the most fantastic experience, for the first time I was able to choose what I do, and it is that time that made me what I am today.

You probably can't understand the importance of self-determiniation, it is the wealth critical to your success in life.

@peteryang
Huh? Billions of people went through your experience of the Chinese education system, including me. I wouldn't understand the value of self-determination? Look at the US education system. Everybody has lots of "self-determination", but then it's not only me that say it's in decline. Without that kind of pushing, you wouldn't even be going abroad for college and you definitely wouldn't be what you are today, probably excelling in your academics. Without the pressure of mountains of homework in your Chinese education, you wouldn't even learn to work hard. It's not a coincidence that asian americans are statistically better in academics. It's the tough system that they or their parents had been put through.

then I feel sad for "billions".

How I am today has absolutely nothing to do with my 初中 life, nor the "pushing", in fact, I was never pushed to study when in university, I simply chose what I like, and by studying what I like, not WHAT I WAS TOLD TO LIKE, I learnt ability to think, observe and research, those in turn have benefited my carrer greatly. and you know whats really ironic? the time when I was NOT "pushed" to study was the time I did very well, and extremely motivated in academics. And the place I went to was New Zealand, not United States.

And you don't need to defend our education system, theres already enough public outrage over it, one radio program on education I listend to had EVERY parent complaining that their kid not having enough free time and study like "slave", I quote one of them:

"they simply confiscate her adolescence"

"It's not a coincidence that asian americans are statistically better in academics. It's the tough system that they or their parents had been put through."---ABDE

The problem with this response you put forth is that the article and issue in question is about getting some of your fellow Asian youth a bit of exercise outside the classroom, outside the library, and away from book larnin' and stuff.

Sure, statistically you excel at tests but I personally known quite a few Asian Americans that were disappointed to not get into their Ivy League school of choice because they have nothing besides the brains. Those schools and anything worthy of wanting to be a member of require the candidates to have more than straight A's.

So keep your 4.0s. If you had the choice of getting wasted with a fat dumb American or some over-achieving Asian who would you pick?

@peteryang
I am saying without the pushing you to study in pre-college education, you wouldn't develop a studying habit or mode of thinking that give you self-motivation to study. There is indeed a lot of flaws with Chinese education system, such as too much emphasis on memory and tests, but giving students a lot of pressure is not one of them. Really do you think giving them less pressure is going to make them self-motivated? Check out the western examples of such a system where only a very small percentage of students excels academically or is self-motivated to study. You are only self-motivated in college because of the habits pushed onto you in Chinese K-12, and you would most likely not turn out to be so if you given the same freedom when you are little. And it's not only China that do this. All east asian countries (by that I mean 2: Korea and Japan) have such tough system, and they did not turn out so badly, did they? Obviously post-high-school education are suppose to be different and should depends mostly on self-motivation of the students, which is the direction that Chinese universities are going, isn't it?