A “please” can go a long way. Kyoto schools seem to be taking that to heart, as they’ve recently changed their PA announcements, moving away from bossy exam time announcements in favor of politeness. The goal is to prevent students from becoming more stressed than they already are.
Kyoto Shimbun reports that both Kyoto Prefecture and the city of Kyoto’s joint Board of Education made the determination on February 17th. In the past, exam announcements – such as telling students to open their exam books or to confirm they have the correct question and answer sheets – used imperative verb conjugations (しなさい; shinasai). The thinking was that, since this was a command and not a request, the imperative was appropriate.
However, some outside the school district have objected, arguing that the use of imperative language can further stress out students who are already under pressure. Other school districts have already followed suit, opting for softer language.
As a result, Kyoto’s joint Board decided to change the format of exam announcements. Instead of using the imperative shinasai, all announcements will now use the polite request conjugation ーしてくだだい (shite kudasai).
Some teachers are praising the move. Others, however, are dismissing it as meaningless or arguing that, since they never felt stressed out by the announcements, today’s students shouldn’t either.
The move marks a general shift in Japanese society away from treating people as inferiors to choosing forms of address that put everyone on an equal footing. One recent survey showed, for example, that most managers have shifted away from addressing their employees as -kun or -chan in favor of the honorific -san.
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