Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dodge7]

[radcon]

Korean kids don't have the firepower available to American kids. That doesn't necessarily mean they are less violent.

[Mr. BlackCat]

I guess it would depend on how one defines "spoiled". I could understand how American kids could be seen as the most spoiled simply because it's the richest country and thus many kids are given more expensive 'toys'. You'd have to look at how the parents spend on their kids, on what they buy.

But I wouldn't consider a kid that is left alone all day, or otherwise without parental supervision, as spoiled even if they get to do whatever they want. That's just bad parenting (or maybe it's not the parents' fault completely if they're poor). However, in my opinion, in Korea kids are spoiled because they're completely given full reign to do as they please in every situation. It's a cultural phenomenon. Speak to Koreans, especially mothers, and they will tell you it's not right to say "no" to a child, especially a boy. Even in schools, teachers will sigh and gasp, but they will rarely actually tell a kid to sit down and shut up (elementary age). The only time they'll actually do anything is if they feel they've been personally and directly disrespected, but not even then a lot of the time.

I don't think Korean kids are monsters, it's totally the culture. They are never given any limits. The fact that people will say kids in the US are getting worse proves the point. We actually notice it, we respond to it, we act on it. Here, Koreans don't even think there's a problem because it's the norm, and it always has been. I am constantly shocked at how little kids act here. When I see it back home, people react to it. They will tell a screaming child in a restaurant to sit down and shut up. They will say something to the parents. The parents are thought of as bad parents if the kid runs around in the classroom at school. Here, the parents just call you a bad teacher for bothering them with such mundane details.

Two more things, that will make me sound like a broken record on this forum. First, Korean kids have a crappy life but it's really not as terrible as it's made out to be. It's like the adults here that are always 'busy'. Of course busy means shopping online and taking naps. Kids go to lots of hogwans, sure. But their school days are shorter than back home and they don't have any other responsibilities other than to study. And let's look at those hogwan hours. Candy, praise, running around, sleeping. I know not all hogwans are the crappy English variety, but many (many, many, many) are. Some kids do study for real all day, but many are just at glorified babysitters who will spoil them with anything to continue to get money from mommy and daddy.

Second, the whole idea that people get shot everyday at schools in the US. I'm not going to sit here and pretend like there isn't a problem in the US. However, it's not as big as everyone likes to pretend. Furthermore, there's 6x as many people in the US, so for every terrible story you hear here, you'd have to hear 6 from there to be even. And most of the bad stuff totally gets swept under the rug here. Gang rapes, violent fights, gangs, severe bullying. All of it might make little Minsu and his parents look bad, so better move the victim to another school and ignore it. I'm not saying Korea is a criminal cesspool, but it certainly isn't the crime-free utopia many foreigners believe it is. Besides, if the crimes I see students commit here were reported to authorities like they are back home, then maybe the stats would be a bit closer.

I'm not trying to say Korean kids are terrible or that they're even the most spoiled. I'm just looking at the bigger picture. There are brats everywhere.

[definitely maybe]

[comm]

[The Cosmic Hum]

[Dodge7]

[Dodge7]

[definitely maybe]