The term "grade reset" is spreading rapidly through Korea's college admissions scene. Grade reset refers to a phenomenon in which a student who fails to earn the desired grade on the first exam of their first year of high school drops out, then re-enrolls at a different school the following year to redo their first-year GPA from scratch.
This year, of the roughly 18,000 students who dropped out at general high schools nationwide, 10,450 were first-year students, accounting for 56% of the total. It is the first time first-year dropouts have exceeded 10,000 since related statistics began to be compiled. Frontline teachers also report a noticeable increase in students who begin considering dropping out immediately after the first exam. This means more students are willing to redo their grades even at the cost of attending school again with juniors who are a year younger. Experts point to the fact that roughly half of a student's GPA is effectively determined during the first year, and that few systems exist to make up for it afterward.
A student who decides to redo their grades spends one more year at the desk. Since re-enrollment does not guarantee a better grade, they must endure a full year under the pressure of having to achieve good results. As study time grows longer, so does the time the body stays fixed in one position. If posture collapses during this time, strain begins to build up in the musculoskeletal system even at a young age.
A representative example is turtle neck syndrome, commonly called "straight neck." When a person repeatedly juts their head forward to stare at textbooks, monitors, or mobile phones for long periods, the cervical spine, which should form a gentle C-shaped curve, straightens out. If the ear sits forward of the shoulder when viewed from the side, turtle neck can be suspected. It is by no means a matter high schoolers who have just passed their growth phase can feel safe about.
If the turtle neck posture becomes entrenched, it can go beyond stiffness and shoulder aches to chronic neck pain (cervical pain). In severe cases, it can progress to a herniated cervical disc, in which the disc between the cervical vertebrae protrudes and presses on a nerve. According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of turtle neck syndrome patients rose from about 2.21 million in 2020 to about 2.54 million in 2024, an increase of about 14% in four years.
For treating turtle neck, non-surgical treatment is recommended over surgery. In Korean medicine, doctors use Chuna therapy, a treatment in which the practitioner uses their hands to push and pull misaligned bones and stiffened muscles back into place. According to a research paper published by Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine in the international journal JAMA Network Open, 108 patients suffering from chronic neck pain for more than three months were divided into a Chuna therapy group and a conventional treatment group receiving painkillers and physical therapy, and compared over five weeks. The pain score (VAS) of the Chuna therapy group fell from 59.5 before treatment to 26.1, a decrease of about 56%. Over the same period, the conventional treatment group saw only a 29% reduction. VAS is a scale that converts a patient's subjective pain to a score of 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more severe pain.
Chuna therapy has been covered by national health insurance since 2019. When pain is severe or a nerve is being irritated, Chuna therapy can be combined with acupuncture and pharmacopuncture treatment to control inflammation and pain together.
More important than treating turtle neck is prevention. After studying in the same posture for 50 minutes, it is good to stand up for about 5 minutes and gently roll the neck and shoulders to loosen them. Positioning the monitor and books at eye level so the head does not bend downward, and developing the habit of sitting with the back against the chair's backrest, can also ease the strain on the neck. Periodically interlacing both hands behind the head, looking up at the ceiling, and stretching by tilting the neck backward helps loosen stiffened muscles. If you have decided to study for another year, take care of the body that must endure that long stretch of time as well. Spinal health is ultimately the most efficient admissions strategy.
