Korean Job Discussion Forums

[yeremy]

I was sitting at my desk today when a kid came into the teachers room, which isn't unusual during the breaks. Then he promptly snarled,and made made an obscene gesture towards a female teacher which I saw out of the corner of my eye, and the senior English teacher jumped over and smacked him upside the head with an open hand. Senior stood nose to nose with the student yelling at him for a few minutes until the student abruptly left. Afterwards, Senior heard a commotion in his homeroom, which is next door, and he quickly dumped his books, grabbed his wooden stick and furiously tore out of the teachers room. I was wondering what those of you, who are also in the public schools, have seen and heard first-hand.

In case you wondering, I was pissed that one of my co-teachers stooped so low. I don't condone it at all. If it happens in one of the classes we co-teach, I will definately say something and try to stop it.

[spliff]

I've never once seen a student scolded harshly or hit with a stick or hand at my public school. The teachers at my school are professional. Whenever I've seen a student being reprimanded it has always occurred w/ the teacher talking the infraction over w/ the offending student in a calm and reasonable manner.

[babtangee]

Sounds like the little turd was begging for a beatdown.

[xCustomx]

That's nothing compared to the punches to the side of the head some students have endured from the ex-PE teacher at my school. He also kicked them, threw them into cabinets, kneed them in their stomach and bitched slapped them several times. I was shocked to see that last year, but now I don't even care. I imagine the students in my school had a big party when they found out the PE teacher was transferring schools

[FUBAR]

[jay-shi]

I teach part time at a rural, read very rural, elementary school (student enrollment total 64).

I once saw the VP and two other male teachers taking down a student and kicking him while he was on the ground Sopranos style, perhaps in a gentler manner. Telling him to stay down and yelling at him.

This student is retarded.

Yes, I can use that term because I worked with the intellectually handicapped for 8 years while paying my way through university.

I asked my co teacher what was going on and she said he hurt the second grade teacher.

I've seen my share of student physical punishment in my time here but this was really over the top, or so I thought. Then I saw the second grade teacher and she had a huge gouging wound running down about 10cm on her cheek, turns out he had scratched her in a tantrum.

Did the student deserve the beat down? Probably not, there are better ways of dealing with it. I was trained in restraint methods by the RCMP. Did I understand the Korean staff response to the incident? Yes, I did.

Life goes on.

[babtangee]

[gangpae]

I've got an idea! Why don't we let the malignant little turds run the schools like back home. Korea is a competitive place and can't afford the luxury of social experimentation. Anyone offended by corporal punishment meted out in Korean schools should consider another line of work.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

I will definately smack you upside the head if you say definately again.

[yeremy]

I think that the ROK should enforce the laws they have about violence to students. In the US, physical punishment, if it occurs at all, usually happens behind closed doors in the vice-principal's office, at least where I was a student volunteer.

I agree that there may be mitigating circumstances, as Jay Shi wrote, but there are better ways to handle these events. Really good, professional teachers don't have to smack kids.