Abstract:

The academic burden of primary and secondary school students is a “long-standing and difficult” problem, but the thinking on this problem always stays at the level of matter-of-factly. The human-being is a social existence, and the role is the embodiment of man’s sociality. Students are the social roles assigned by the government and society to school-age children, with “thick” normative requirements. Students are institutionalized roles, and school’s spatial context is the boundary of students’ roles. The role of students with boundaries now spills over to families, communities and society. Even if juveniles are separated from school’s spatial context, they are still students. The excessive spillover and solidification of students’ roles make juveniles unable to get a break from students’ roles and their normative requirements, and lose the opportunity to try other social roles. In particular, the significant role of juveniles at home is still students rather than children, and all ethical norms pinned on children’s roles in traditional culture have lost their role support. For juveniles, the most fundamental burden is the role burden, and the academic burden is only a secondary burden derived from the role burden.

Key words: academic burden, social roles, role boundary, student’s role, role spillover, role solidification, role burden