Adolescence is often a turbulent time. Teenagers face immense challenges daily, from academic pressure to the complex dynamics of peer relationships and the struggle to form a strong self-identity. How can educators and parents help them navigate these critical years with resilience and empathy?
A highly successful special lecture held at Goseong Girls’ Middle School offers a profound and practical answer: teaching adolescents the practice of ‘Mind Subtraction’.
๐ค Opening Hearts Before Opening Minds
To truly reach teenagers, education must be relatable. The school beautifully orchestrated the event in two parts. It began with a vibrant “talk concert” hosted by a university student and featured exciting performances by a singer and a professional dancer.
By starting with music and relatable mentors who donated their talents for the event, the students’ hearts were fully opened. Once the teenagers were engaged and comfortable, the core character education began under a powerful slogan: “Let’s escape from our minds.”
๐ก Breaking Free from the “Fake World”
During the lecture, Ma-eum Su-ryun instructor Shim Yoon-jung addressed the exact issues teenagers struggle with the most: interpersonal conflicts and the lack of self-identity.
She clearly explained that these intense worries are created within their own self-centered mental worlds. The students learned a transformative concept: the things we see and experience are stored in our brains like “pictures.” Often, the stress and peer conflicts teenagers experience happen because they are living inside this subjective, fake world of pictures rather than reality.
The response from the youth was incredibly insightful. Choi Ah-yeon, a first-year student, shared her realization: “I learned that when we take pictures with our human eyes, it is recognized in our brains, and we are living in a fake world, seeing the world through those pictures.”
๐ค The True Foundation of Empathy
When teenagers realize that their own perspective isn’t the absolute truth, something amazing happensโthey develop genuine empathy.
Je Myung-jin, a second-year student, expressed a deep understanding of this principle: “I realized that my viewpoint is not everything in the world, but merely what I see from my own perspective. In particular, I thought it was important to see a person as they are, rather than judging them based only on what I have seen or thought.”
This is the ultimate goal of character education. By subtracting their preconceived notions and judgments, students learn to communicate authentically and accept their peers without conflict. Encouraged by this passionate response and profound growth, the school announced plans to open an ongoing after-school class for mind subtraction.
๐๏ธ Join our mindful community.
If you are a parent seeking to help your teenager navigate the stress of peer pressure, or an educator looking for true character education, the method of mind subtraction offers a proven path to mental clarity and empathy.
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๐ฐ About the Original Article
- Publication: Gyeongnam Maeil
- Article Title: Goseong Girls’ Middle School Successfully Concludes ‘Mind Subtraction’ Special Lecture
- Published: September 22, 2014
