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I’m technically one of those kids. Despite my very French name, I grew up in an English-speaking household in Aylmer, Québec. My parents enrolled me in an English primary school, which they were permitted to do because my mother attended English schools in Canada. I did learn French there, I was in French immersion classes, but if I hadn’t subsequently attended a French high school and Francophone post-secondary institutions, I probably wouldn’t be fluent in French today.Is it common? Probably not. Something like 95% of the kids that I went to Anglo primary school with went on to Anglo high schools. Most would have struggled with the language, seeing as their French wasn’t very strong. Based on my observations, probably well over 80% of Anglo parents chose to enroll their children in the public English language school system, from kindergarten through high school.My situation is a little unusual, starting out in English and then making the jump to French, but I wasn’t alone (out of around 80 kids finishing the 6th grade, about 6 of us went on to the local French high school). In high school we were a minority of English speaking kids, most of whom had done all their schooling in French schools, from kindergarten onwards. The Anglo kids in my high school, who could have presumably been studying in an English language public school, made up maybe 5–6% of the student population. This is in a town that is something like 40–45% anglophone, so it’s not like English-speakers were very well-represented in my high school. I don’t have statistical evidence to back this up, but I’d say that Anglo families are more likely to enroll their kids in French schools ifAt least one of the parents speaks French: This was true of most of my Anglo friends in high school.They have a reasonably high education level: Most of the kids I knew were from middle class families, whose parents had decent, often white collar/government jobs.At least one parent is from Quebec: I’m from the Outaouais, a region that borders Ontario. Some Ontarians move to my region because of the cheaper costs of living. Thinking back, few of the Anglo kids in my high school had two parents who were both from outside of Québec.Based on my observations, when neither parent speaks French, it becomes unlikely that they’ll send their kid to French school (“How will I help little Johnny with his homework? How will I talk to his teachers?”)….unless both parents are immigrants, in which case they have to send their kids to French school, like it or not.In case you were wondering, many of the immigrant kids would speak English to each other, as well as with the Anglo kids. Maybe a form of mild rebellion.Edit/Addition: I noticed that the majority of the anglo students with whom I studied in high school, in French, chose to attend the English language Cégep.

Well, I can answer this based on my experience as a schooler in Japan.Okay, it’s April 2nd. You are turning 13 this year. You have graduated from the Elementary school you have gone through for over half of your life. After the tearful goodbye ceremony with your friends and teachers with who you've gone through for over half of your life time, you are excited to see what’s coming next. A life which many describe as the happiest moment in life is just about to start. You have read many manga about “Seisyun” or “teenage romance” and you heart starts to pump up and down and refuses to stop, creating a small panic.And once you wore that fancy school uniform for the first time in your life and enter the gate, you realize the ultimate truth…1.Almost half of the teenagers become gender separated in secondary education.In fact, I was one of them. In Japan, the idea of gender separation among secondary education is very popular. Most of the top ranking Junior and Senior high schools are gender separated, usually in the form of boy schools and girl schools. Many penologists in japan believe students perform better if the gender is separated, citing the difference in growth and brain structure. There are also many schools which separate males and females in different buildings of the same campus. Obviously, for those teens, it is impossible to do any sort of “romantic high school dating” as shown in many anime as they are physically separated from the other sex.2.The Japanese Jurisdiction is all-out hostile against teenage romance.When the teens decide to start a relationship, they must face many legal challenges.When laws come into teenage relationships, usually people think about the Age of Consent. However, in the case of Japan, its not. The age of consent in Japan is 13, significantly lower then the world average of 16.Instead, each prefecture have these really confusing laws called “Youth Robust Development Act” or something of a similar name which intends to “protect the development of adolescents” in their own prefecture. They regulate teens and adults from doing certain things that might disrupt the healthy development of the teenagers with rules like “don’t go outside after 10 pm” or “don’t consume adult products” “don’t do this!, do that! blah, blah, blah”, which in fact are different depending on the prefectures.However, every prefecture has a provision banning “the performance of obscene acts” among teenagers. This was originally intended to counter child prostitution, and is now frequently bantered as a “dating regulation act” by lawyers due to the vagueness of the term “obscene”.The interpretation of this law depends on each prefecture and city, ranging from prostitution involving sexual penetration, to innocent romantic body gestures such as holding hands. Also, out of 47 prefectures with this law, only a handful of them have a provision which specifically declares anyone under 18 not to be punished, meaning that the rest of them would be open to prosecution. Although it is very unlikely for minors to be prosecuted for dating another teenager, it is very likely that the minor would be detained by the police if deemed “inappropriate” based on the interpretation of the laws and their own sense which would certainly upset his or her parents and the school they go to.In fact, during my high school senior year, one of my friends (age 18) was arrested by a police after he was caught dating with her classmate who was only several months younger. He was interrogated by the police for a week before being released.I remember one of my law professors saying “Stay away from anyone under the age of 20, unless you are absolutely determined to do so.” The only way to get away from being prosecuted by these laws is by having both partners be absolutely determined to engage in the relationship, because an absolute serious relationship can never be interpreted as “Obscene”, and (never should be) as right to date is a right protected by the constitution.However, the problem is how many teenagers engage in a serious relationship with the view of marriage? Even if they are, can they survive the notoriously intense interrogations of the police which can last for weeks? In fact, most of the time, one of the partners would confess, which immediately results in legal prosecution which is a death sentence for the careers of both, the victim and the condemned.I personally think this situation is very hypocritical because if you go to places like Umeda, Kabukicyo, and Akihabara, you'll see many hostess club engaging in child prostitution without any problems while countless of innocent relationships are being intervened by the police.However, on the bright side, teens wouldn’t have to think about this in the first place because…3.Teenagers are strictly controlled by civilian meansFirst, Schools. As you can understand from above that teenage romance can easily flame up in an unpredictable manner. Obviously many, particularly private schools would be nervous about their hormone driven teenagers being unleashed.It can potentially cause a devastating incident for the schools if one or more of their students were involved in a scandal. The school may lose the trust from the student’s parents or the PTA. If the incident made it to the headlines of those hungry presses, even worse, on the daily evening news, the situation would completely go out of control. Like the presses of the west, Japanese presses love sexual scandals and pursue them at all costs. Everyone’s worst nightmare! This almost happened in my brother’s school last year. His school was sued by a girls school over an incident involving a student. Fortunately, the case ended with a settlement and did not escalate beyond there; however, it must have been a horrifying moment for the school managers.To deter this problem, it is not uncommon for schools to regulate teens from dating. However, most schools do not have written rules like “Students are prohibited from contacting with the opposite gender other than in academic circumstances” on their rule books. That is way too straight forward and controversial. Instead, they write something like “Students are expected to act as the role model representative for our school with over 100 years of history” or “Any action which contradicts with the spirit of academia is prohibited”.Writing vague rules to counter controversial subjects is a common solution in Japanese organizations. This way, the school authorities can crack down on teenage dating, by saying ,for example, that “dating contradicts with the spirit of hard work and learning”.It’s not just the school which enforce strict rules. Recently, there was an invention which shifted the whole topic to a whole new levelSMARTPHONES.Smartphones have everything from texting, GPS, Camera, Microphone, and personal data. The invention of this super-device has changed everything. When these devices spread around the population around 2010, teenagers suddenly became a subject of complete surveillance from the public. The GPS can now track down where the student lives. People can now take a picture and send them on SMS. Now, the public can file a “student wrongdoing complaint” with photographic evidence. The school they are enrolled in can be easily identified by their uniforms.Also, Smartphones fueled additional paranoia among the parents and PTAs demanding new stricter regulation, laws to schools, and the local lawmakers.But the good news is that the teens shouldn't care about the consequence of their horny behavior because…4.There is no time or chance to date at all anyway.Literally. Teenage years are the most restrictive and busy times throughout the entire life for many people in Japan. Once the school is over, most teens would go to Cram Schools as late as 10 or 11 pm. The aforementioned, along with potential commuting hours every day, going to schools, and cram schools give the teen very little free time. Even during Sundays, when most cram schools are closed, students have to do the homework for the entire week. Furthermore, during the summer breaks which last for about a month, there are often extensive summer schools for the entire day which last weeks. There is almost no time for many teens to go out on a date. Teenagers make free time by sacrificing their sleep.Parents are often competitive about the performance of their child and are usually not happy about their kids wasting time dating.5.The culture obsession of teenage romanceFinally, and I personally believe to be the largest reason for this issue, is the cultural obsession of dating.The cultural obsession of teen dating is real here. The majority of the top selling cultural products have something to do with teen dating. High school haiku contest, most of the awarded winners are related to dating. This obsession on middle and high school dating means a lot of intervention, by both the public and the surrounding people while dating. I was sick and tired of hearing all those grown ups enthusiastically asking “where’s your girlfriend?” “Do you like this girl?” “did you stare at her?” “Why not wear this?” Blah, Blah, Blah!!! Every time in school, the professor endlessly talks about his first girlfriend and how she “degraded” with age. Every time while at home my parents discuss about what type of girl would fit me. Every time I came back from cram school, my surroundings ask if I communicated with a girl or not, or what kind of girls were there. On the TV are frequent topics about recent trend in school dating blah, blah, blah…These public obsession makes it really hard for teens to rationally engage in a relationship. Once a partner is formed, the news would spread through the entire community and its not just embarrassing but a whole a lot of intervention would be likely by everyone around.Hence, I never dated, as so many others. The reality was just too sick for me to handle. Although I came across aspiring girls occasionally, I never had a chance to date and probably never will at least until I graduate from college. I had too many traumatic experiences. I need to mature more.

My mother was narcissistic and resentful, and nothing I did ever measured up. She had been artistically talented as a young girl, and had won a full scholarship to one of country’s top art schools in the days when that was very rare for women. But her family didn’t allow her to take it. They were very Old World and wouldn't let her ride public transportation alone. I believe that was a terrible disappointment and ruined her future as far as she was concerned.As an adult, her behavior was extreme and full of conflicting emotions, confident and fearful, haughty and repentant (at least temporarily). I sensed underneath she had a lot of issues from childhood, something which relatives later confirmed. She couldn’t seem to cope with even small problems in a normal way; she became agitated and lashed out at anyone who challenged her even slightly. Disagreeing with her even slightly provoked fury and a tongue-lashing, sometimes even a physical one. She had no qualms spewing out any insult that came to mind, however vicious or untrue. She’d blow up, then act as if nothing had happened. If your feelings were hurt or you withdrew, she'd tell you to “grow up” or “get over it.”She tried to prevent me from going to college. In my senior year of high school as I was making plans to choose which university I’d attend, she became even more moody and belligerent, and tried to restrict and thwart me any way she could. She banned me from a trip to Washington, D.C. for an important competition with my marching band, and refused to sign a form allowing me to receive a university scholarship. When I finally enrolled in college despite her efforts, she sometimes hid my keys so I couldn’t attend.I was one of the top students in a large high school in terms of grades, extra-curricular activities and college entrance scores. I was studious, good-hearted and simple-minded. I saw life and situations in a straight-forward way, wasn’t suspicious and didn’t “read” things into people’s remarks and actions as my mother did. She saw the dark side of things and people, whereas I was trusting and optimistic.She and I clashed throughout my high school years. But after my sister was born when I was 15, she was especially difficult and found fault with me constantly. Looking back, I imagine it must have been a handful to raise a baby in mid-life, especially since before then I was the only child. But she was a stay-at-home mom, and had everything she could want since my father was a good provider so at least he didn't have that burden too.As I moved through high school, I was increasingly independent, forming my own attitudes and opinions – a normal part of growing up – and looking ahead to my future schooling. I never touched drugs or alcohol although my mother seemed to think I was sneaking behind her back (I wasn’t, it didn’t even cross my mind). I didn’t stay out late – in fact, I mostly didn’t go out at all. I had two dates in high school but was so awkward and uncomfortable, and even frightened, that the boys never called back. My social life was my friends and after-school activities such as marching band and girls’ sports. But my mother saw me as unruly and defiant – and I was her focus of constant criticism and unwarranted (and untrue) accusations.My junior year in high school was bad but senior year was the worst. She and I clashed constantly. She was mean-spirited – my father always said she had a “mean streak.” She drank vodka frequently; one day when she woke up around noon and found herself on the floor, she blamed me for “hitting her over the head.” (I was nowhere near her at the time.) There seemed to be no end to her list of my sins. Once she slammed my stack of records on the floor, breaking them into bits. (Those were the days of vinyl discs instead of CDs or iPods.)Anyway, one day late in my senior year, she called the high school principal, telling him she wanted me to be put in reform school. I heard her call me “disobedient and rebellious.” Minutes earlier, she and I were arguing – meaning, she accused me of things I didn’t do, or exaggerated small things I did do – and I’d deny doing them. That was how I “rebelled.” I was book-smart, and didn’t desire or even think of getting into trouble or mayhem of any kind. It didn’t appeal to me – I just wanted to be left alone in peace to study and get into a good university and then leave home.During her conversation with the principal, I got on the other phone in the house. With landline phones, you could pick up a phone in another room and listen to the conversation. I heard the principal say, “Mrs. X, I have no idea what you’re talking about. The girl you’re describing isn’t the girl I know at all. The girl I know is a good student, well-behaved, respected and well-liked.” Bottom line: he refused to have me sent to reform school. I was so relieved and overjoyed to hear him foil her that I cried when I hung up the phone.Even after that, the friction still didn’t stop with my mother. The high school decided I should have some counseling. They assigned me to a middle-aged woman at the school. By chance she lived two doors down from us. My first day in her office, as I described incident after incident of my mother’s rage-filled tantrums, I burst into uncontrollable tears. I’d told these things to my father, aunt and grandmother, but they just excused her. They really didn’t want to know, and weren’t listening.But the counselor listened. The principal stopped by her office while I was in there sobbing, and the counselor said, “It’s all right, Dr. Smith, I know the family.” The way she said that sentence – “I know the family” – and her angry facial expression told me a lot. Apparently living so near us, she had heard things about my mother’s drinking and instability – which I hadn’t mentioned to her. One reason for that was, I had never taken a drink, so didn’t know how alcohol affected people. I didn’t make the connection between her behavior and alcohol until years later. I viewed the vodka she drank as just another beverage that had no psychological consequences.But later, I realized that the counselor's face was really saying: “I know from others in the neighborhood that this girl lives in a troubled home with people whose behavior is dysfunctional.” I couldn’t have articulated that at the time, but somehow that woman knew things about my family. Anyway, she just took me in her arms and hugged me. That was one of the nicest, kindest acts anyone had done for me until that time and decades later, it still brings tears to my eyes to remember it.Add to that the fact that the principal had defied my mother’s absurd wishes about putting me in reform school – and opposing her was something no one else in the family – neither my father nor any other relative, had ever done – and these incidents added up to my happiest moments during that troubled year of high school.