1. Malisky

    Malisky Malkatorean Contributor

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    Japanese high school dormitory curfew.

    Discussion in 'Research' started by Malisky, Nov 12, 2016.

    So... how does this work?

    I read somewhere that at some places the curfew starts at 11 or 12.
    How long does it last?
    Do they lock the main entrance?
    Is there a security guard all night long inspecting or do they simply sit at the main entrance? (If there is, then why doesn't he unlock when you're late)?
    What happens if you want to leave on curfew hours but on the spot? (Without applying for a permit).
    What happens if you were out but didn't make it back on time?
    Do they simply lock you out?
    Do they figure out you're missing?
    Do they call the parents?
    Do you get negative points for not playing by the rules?

    I've never been on campus or in a dormitory, so I'm absolutely clueless. Any information or link you sent will be very much appreciated.

    I'm planning for my character escaping, but I can't plot this without some of this info at least.
     
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  2. Iain Sparrow

    Iain Sparrow Banned Contributor

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    Depends on the university, and also the country.

    Curfews were common decades ago, not nearly so much these days. Mostly restrictions on alcohol consumption. I know when my niece was visiting from California a year ago and shopping universities here in North Florida, I was surprised how tough most institutions are when it came to drinking. Otherwise, by and large, things are pretty loose.
    And no, nobody does head counts as doors are locked. The more common restriction is on a dormitory resident hosting a person of the opposite sex, and even that isn't policed to any great extent. In my mid-twenties I dated a girl who attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, and I sometimes spent the night in her dorm and never had a problem, even attended lectures and participated in classes. As a general rule, especially at a large sprawling (liberal) college, if you act like your supposed to be there, no one bothers to ask.:) You would never have to "escape". I would imagine that only conservative universities, religious schools, and military academies have such strict rules.
     
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  3. Malisky

    Malisky Malkatorean Contributor

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    Thank you Ian for this info but I need to understand how curfew works. I read that in Japan in contrast to America, curfews are taken much more seriously. Especially in high-school dormitories. University rules might be somewhat looser. At least that is what I figured after my research. But I don't know how that works.

    Ok, it doesn't need to be Japan. In general at least. How would a high school curfew be conducted inside a dormitory?
     
  4. Iain Sparrow

    Iain Sparrow Banned Contributor

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    If it's high school, then I'm assuming it would be private schools and in America probably religious based, and yes, I suspect breaking curfew or other infractions would be dealt with harshly in those cases. The only experience I have with private schools was when I entered school at 4 years old, and on till 6 years old when my parents were told I was no longer going to be able to attend the Christian Preparatory School anymore. I was caught cheating, and I was also a prolific shoplifter and my luck ran out one afternoon at the local K-Mart store.:)
    I have no idea if corporal punishment is still around (hope not), but it sure was alive and well back in the day. Might be something to consider in your story.
     
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  5. SethLoki

    SethLoki Retired Autodidact Contributor

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    I went to a military boarding school it was ring-fenced and had a guard on the gate. We were only allowed off the premises at weekend and that was in full uniform for just a few short hours. The curfew was 6pm and if you were late you'd leave your name with the guard on re-entry. Every day about 6:15pm there'd be a roll call. It was taken very seriously if you were absent and you'd be punished by your whole dormitory's 'lights-out' time being brought forward. This worked as the pressure to conform came from your peers too.

    Inside the dormitories, later on, there'd be 'head-counts' by prefects who were rostered to patrol the corridors through the night.
     
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  6. Malisky

    Malisky Malkatorean Contributor

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    Thank you for the info, but I think that military curfew is somewhat conducted differently than high-school curfew. I think, at least... No way your parents have to pay so much money to treat you this way. I mean... it's crazy, no? o_O
     
  7. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    That sounds horrible... I'd have hated that.
     
  8. SethLoki

    SethLoki Retired Autodidact Contributor

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    It had me commit to NEVER send my kids away—was far too much for a young person to deal with. Me and 200 other boys in my block come to think of it shared a single mother figure (cue Freud); a very sweet old German lady who'd check our nails, ears and teeth before bed and reward us with a hot chocolate for the privilege.

    Yes @Mckk the only fond memories are of my cohorts—the other kids put through the same mill. Strong friendships that last till this day.

    I'm shutting up – feel like I'm in therapy.

    I've forgiven my parents btw, they were victims of circumstance. Dad worked abroad with the forces; the nearest English school being well beyond a commute.
    So off I was packed.

    Anyway, back to the thread. I commented because you mentioned your boarding school may be set in Japan? My knowledge of their culture has me believe they're heavy on structure + big on following rules. I reckon my experiences might chime with that notion.
     
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  9. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    No reason why you had to attend an English school. Would a local school not have done the job? It's not like picking up a foreign language would have been such a disaster, is it!? Glad you have those friendships though - that does kind of "make up" for it in a way. I remember my ex always said how he wanted to send his kids off to boarding school because he went to one for 2 years. While he went as a 16-year-old, I remember him saying he'd send his off even from the age of 5. It's like, WTF?

    Mind you, he said this when he was still just 19 or so. Maybe he's changed his mind? I hope he has!
     
  10. SethLoki

    SethLoki Retired Autodidact Contributor

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    I think my parents went with what all the other forces parents were doing at the time—the decision making wasn't mine unfortunately. I'd love to be able to spy the universe in which I didn't go mind—the conjecture's impossible (sliding doors). Yes, no hard thinking, just sit and watch what became of me.

    I shall start another thread. Key Moments.
     
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  11. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    Ah. I've never been one to follow the crowd. Also being quite international means I actually prefer my kid to soak up other cultures other than her own, or perhaps that of the expats'.

    My alternate universe would be one where I never moved away from Hong Kong. To think, I might not even speak English now and I'd be writing my novels in Chinese! Wouldn't know my husband now and certainly wouldn't have my snuggly little baby girl. Still, I do wonder :) seeing as I don't remember ever disliking Hong Kong.
     
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  12. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    I did a little research - there isn't much of a boarding school culture in Japan, really, really very few schools with dormitories, but there are a lot of manga stories about dormitory schools; probably a yearning of sorts for the experience, and why such stories are popular. I'm so boring.
     
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  13. SethLoki

    SethLoki Retired Autodidact Contributor

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    The Chinese do send their kids away, more so I figure. Usually to get hot-housed. I think the places can be/or were pretty brutal.

    I lived in Hong Kong a while—Stanley Fort. @Mckk It's all a bit misty I was 6–7 at the time. Skyscrapers, monsoons, mossie bites, we had a maid, junks in the harbour, jumbo jets making hairy landings at the short airport, and my first encounter with a snake. I didn't pick up a jot of Chinese; again us army brats were curtained off from the locals.
     
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  14. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    Yoh, I did all that expat brat, and wife was army kid, well, older now.
     
  15. SethLoki

    SethLoki Retired Autodidact Contributor

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    Aye, quite a nomadic (accentless) existence.

    Germany 1
    N. Yorkshire
    Hong Kong
    N. Ireland.(scary time)
    Colchester
    Germany 2 (cold war cool when it was hot)
    Folkestone

    Not to be so long too with stays in

    Cyprus
    Gan
    Singapore
    Chester


    All my friends 'joined up' themselves when they came of age. It seems to self-perpetuate.

    Did you?
     
  16. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    Sorry [deletion] - got all 1974 for a moment...
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2016
  17. SethLoki

    SethLoki Retired Autodidact Contributor

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    '74 Back when I were a small boy... can't remember my political allegiances.
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2016
  18. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    I also did a bit of research, and boarding schools don't seem to be much of a thing here. I've lived in Japan for quite a while over a decade and never heard of one. Many universities here don't even have student dormitories; the place where I work has dorms (nice apartments really) for the full-time staff, but nothing for the students. Keeping in mind that Japanese businessmen don't consider a two-hour (one way) commute to be a deal-breaker, some of my students live that far away from school, while the others just have apartments somewhere in town.
     
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  19. Malisky

    Malisky Malkatorean Contributor

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    So far, from what I read they are. I just don't know how this system works. I've never even been to child camp and always had plenty of freedom to choose whatever (the means were a different story though). I had direction, but in a very general sense. Maybe, that's why I'm so caught up with this concept. Because it is so different. Did some transcriptions upon family relationships into strict law abiding societies and from all the things I ever had to work on this was the most interesting. A whole lot difference in philosophy, ideology and thus, methodology. Ended up conducting my research and on the way got inspired to write a story.

    Anyhow, they indeed chime with the notion, but I still think that military has a different methodology since the stakes are different. All of my boy friends went to the army (obligatory service here and oh, what fun that is) and I know how the system on military curfew works (as I learned by heart their daily routine. Yep. We passed this together... Many times over...).

    Got off topic myself. Well, it's nice talking about the things that interest you. Why not? I find it interesting how this thread got off topic but I'm not offended or irritated, so please go on. It's like a morning chat for me, along with hot coffee and a new pack of cigarettes. Good day! :D
     
  20. Malisky

    Malisky Malkatorean Contributor

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    You mean that you lived in Japan and never heard of a boarding school there? It's not so often in the whole run to send your kids there (if I understood correctly upon my research) and boarding schools are not obligating the native children to stay in the dorms. It is a choice. There are different options. I was reading about Kaisei Academy, but the research came to a dead-end early on. I was intending in using real life settings in my story, but I'll instead make up my own institution names since my research is getting me nowhere. (Although, I at least need to understand how it works).

    The boarding school theme that I'm interested in came after I read an article (many really) about the unfairness POV of this system. It is very expensive to send your kids to these top institutions so only the very high society kids end up there. Being credited by these institutions (Kaisei for example) really makes a difference for their later on University entrance, CV and connections. But all the info I got is through articles and statistics. Never lived there, so I can't be sure if what I'm reading is one sided.

    Thank you for the input! Since you've already lived there and worked as a teacher (if I understood correctly), whatever info upon the educational system you may have to add up is welcome. :)
     
  21. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    That's correct, but it isn't to say that they don't exist, just that they are far from common. Despite being a teacher, my experience is rather limited. I taught for a private conversation school for a while, and I've been at the same university ever since. The uni that I work at is... not among the top-ranked schools in Japan, if you catch my meaning, so we don't have frantic competition to enter.

    I think that in addition to looking at boarding schools, you should research the concept of an "escalator school". This is a system whereby a high school, junior high school, elementary school or even pre-school (ages 3 and up) may be associated with a particular university. Students who are able to enter at the lower levels are virtually guaranteed promotion to the higher levels. Back when I worked at the conversation school, I had an adult student who was heartbroken because his daughter wouldn't be getting into the university he wanted her to.

    She was 2 years old, and in the entrance exam for the pre-school, she'd hid behind his leg instead of interacting with the interviewer. Failed the interview, would end up going to public school, and wouldn't get into whatever university it was he wanted.

    Here's a quick article on the phenomenon that I found, if you come across anything else you'd like to ask about, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to help.

    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2014/02/16/issues/prepping-for-university-straight-from-the-crib/#.WCqodn2RXMI
     
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  22. Malisky

    Malisky Malkatorean Contributor

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    Just read it. Interesting. I didn't know that the race started from such an early age. I'll be asking you some more questions in the future as the story progresses to the final stage of the University examinations. (Since I find them quite confusing, especially for private uni admittance). I'll be asking you about the G.P.A.'s at some point.

    Poor kid. Even poorer father, since he is the one understanding the situation and stressing over it. These kind of real life concepts are what fuel my motivation. Two very strong sentences to build a story upon.

    Thank you again.
     
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  23. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    You're welcome. Not sure how much help I can provide with info about the entrance exams, my job starts when they show up in my classroom, but I'll try.

    One other thing that just occurred to me re: the dormitory curfew. Osaka city has a ban on minors under 16 going into entertainment venues (karaoke, bowling, game centers) unaccompanied after 7pm. I don't know how strongly this is enforced, but it could provide either a problem or a driver for your story.

    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2006/02/02/national/osaka-curfew-on-minors-takes-effect/#.WCrDmX2RXMI
     
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  24. Malisky

    Malisky Malkatorean Contributor

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    Certainly a driver. The more obstacles, the more suspense, although my character is about to turn 17 soon.
     
  25. handsinthegarden

    handsinthegarden Member

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    I'm really excited to see you posted this! I was wondering the same thing, just in terms of the curfew. Thanks for asking a good question. :)
     
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