American scholar James Lynch's 2000 book, A Cry Unheard: New Insights into the Medical Consequences of Loneliness, examines the relationship between loneliness and health. Looking at the increase in cardiovascular disease in modern times, Lynch explores the causes underlying the risk factors. While there is no question that heart disease is linked to obesity, smoking, sedentary lifestyles, and stress-filled, anxious, easily angered Type-A personalities, Lynch asks what leads people to develop these kinds of bad habits.

After combing through mountains of data, the writer concluded that the correlation between a person's level of education and the incidence of cardiovascular disease was as high as that for smoking, blood pressure, body weight, and cholesterol combined.

"The destruction of self-esteem inherent in school failure ultimately forces many victims between a 'rock and a hard place.' Life in relationship to others can become unbearable," wrote Lynch.

Lynch stressed that low levels of education were likely to result in negative health factors such as poverty, unemployment, and broken families. But that wasn't all. Even individuals who earned high incomes in spite of their low levels of education had death rates higher than more highly educated persons.

Another common myth holds that only highly competitive, ambitious, and overworked individuals in upper management are prone to heart attacks. It's not true. Driven by deep-seated insecurities, individuals with low levels of education even more obviously exhibit the kind of hyper-competitive Type-A personalities that place people at greater risk. In other words, lack of education is itself a health risk, an obstacle to human relationships, and a nightmare that leaves permanent scars.

This issue's cover story, "Lighting the Way for Youth," investigates the public's efforts to salvage the educations of disadvantaged children in our M-shaped society. Over the long term, education affects a person's job competitiveness, their self-esteem and healthy development, and even the direction of society as a whole.

Analogizing from naturopathic medicine, the topic of another article in this issue, low levels of educational achievement are simply a symptom, and symptoms are not the same as illnesses. With that in mind, we shouldn't rush to alleviate them by slapping on high-pressure external solutions, such as scoldings, beatings, cramming, or increasing the numbers of high schools and universities. We should instead begin at the root of the problem, working through it one step at a time by providing kids with meals, talking to them, teaching them to play the guitar or dance, offering them principles to live by, taking them out to do volunteer work or biking in the mountains.... If we can awaken children's ability to heal themselves (their motivation to study or to achieve), they'll grow like trees, stretching themselves towards the sun until they are tall and strong enough to shelter others.

This kind of work goes far beyond the scope of tutoring and involves simultaneously shouldering the roles of parent, mentor and best friend. The many individuals on our compassionate island who have taken on this heavy task without complaint or regret are deserving of our highest praise and utmost respect. In our efforts to help end failure in the classroom and ensure that no Taiwanese children will ever again be left crying in a corner, we should extend to them all possible support in these difficult economic times.