A More Diverse Society

"Let's hang out outside."

One of my classmates came up to me and said with curious eyes and a blushing face in Japanese. I just nodded without saying anything because I didn't know how to reply. Nodding was the only way I could reply to friends at that time because I hardly understood Japanese.

I came to Japan from Indonesia when I was 12 years old. I didn't know any Japanese except hiragana and katakana, I didn't understand any words teachers and classmates said and what was written in my textbooks. Can you imagine being in a world where you don't understand any words? I was the only student who had come from a foreign country, so I was struggling every day and thought that I was the only one who suffered from such a situation.

However, now I know that there are many students like me in Japan. The Japanese government is expanding the acceptance of foreign workers and their families. But then, we don't have sufficient systems in place to accept children. The burden of differences of language and lifestyle is significant, and there are many students who give up attending schools. The survey by the Ministry of education found that nearly 20,000 foreign children in Japan may not have attended elementary and junior high schools in 2019.

We should not leave this problem unsolved. If we face and overcome this situation sincerely, our society will be a more attractive one. I hope we can think about the way to do this together.

First, we should consider language support, especially for those immediately after coming to Japan, cannot keep up with their school studies. I often spent my days just sitting at my desk in the classroom waiting for the time to pass. I thought if there had been one more teacher sitting next to me and had supported me during lessons, I could have understood Japanese and fitted in class more easily. Also, I wish teachers had written hiragana alongside some Chinese characters, which was so tough to learn.

Second, support for their parents. Some parents also have difficulty understanding Japanese, so they can't read letters from schools and they also do not know useful information such as the school attendance support system. Also, understanding the Japanese high school entrance exam system is difficult. I usually had arguments with my mother because she could not fully understand that system. From my experience, I think that there may be some parents who may not be able to make the right choices or decisions about their child's academic course because of their language problems.

Furthermore, everyone needs to have knowledge about their culture and religion. Some children can't eat specific foods and some worship and need space and time for that. Japanese students may feel different from that lifestyle and may try to alienate them. We should have education accepting a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds and respect diversity.

However, what cheers children up the most is that they can feel someone always cares about them. My classmates never left me alone. They never treated me like a foreigner, but treated me normally as a friend. They taught me how to read and write, using gestures and pictures. Can you imagine how happy I felt, how relieved I was, thanks to them? If you ever meet children from foreign countries, please talk to them first and try to know them. Gradually, the distance between them gets shorter and you can become real true friends. It's a wonderful thing to meet people whose cultures and languages are different.l By interacting with them, you can have a wider field of view, and make our society more diverse. So, let's do our part and make this place better and more accessible for everyone.