Korean Job Discussion Forums

[captain kirk]

I'm ten months now at the same haggie. And this is a tale of hagwon hell.

Her name is Lucy and she's 13. She's the daughter of the sister of the boss, who is the receptionist. Both the boss and her sister, who sit up front at the control panels whitey wrangling, are hagwon dragons. Short tempers and they're always right. All for show. Except everybody knows what beeps they are. And staff make a pretense of avoiding the unruly upstart for a token day, while the bosses do the same for a spell. Appearances.

Lucy is a very 'strong willed child'. I 'had' to think about her trying to come to terms with why she's such a pain in the butt. She's the only kid I can't control. She loves being sassy, it's her kick. And no, I don't like her or admire her 'strong will'.

The boss and her Mom, the receptionist, can't control her either. They tell her to be polite to the f-teacher but she just won't do it. And yes, she's probably bored because she's not only a hagwon kid, she's always there.

Trying to figure out what's wrong with her I realized she's exactly like the bosses. Always right, looking down from on high on the 'help'. And the bosses don't want her to change, because why would they want to change themselves, hagwon dragons? She listens to them complain about the teachers all the time, and embodies it as a sort of 'Carrie'.

I've kicked her out of class so many times. Chasing her around the classroom while she backs out, facing me, her eyes narrowed with absolute, hissing disgust.

Except last time the bosses backed her up. So I fumed on this a night and the next day, when they figured they'd made ground I got some back. And said I don't want Lucy in my class. Well, the boss went into a catatonic fit, shouting in Korean and I let out a yahoo, there goes Old Faithful. The staff thought it was a hoot. She chased me into the staffroom and said, 'Lucy is a student like any student at the hagwon'. And, 'you are a bad teacher if you cannot control her'. So I said that her, and her mother, can't control her either. True.

But as of today she's out. Just another 'freaky psycho brat with an attitude' for the history books.

[FUBAR]

All you needed to say...

If her Mother can't control her, she is a bad mother. That would have put an end to it right there.

[captain kirk]

This haggie is a rubber room, lots of room for inconsequetial in the end drama. They may be dragon ladies half the time, but the other half they're on the side of the forces of good. So I wouldn't be telling the boss her sister is a bad mom. I just wanted sassy Princess poopoohead out of the class, finally. No-one can get her to respect anything or anyone, she's in a free-flow situation of crapheaded-dom. Kids have no control alot of the time, good= spontaneity. The bad is they can be hellers. When Lucy is bad she's just acting out, without reservation, the muttered disdain of the hagwon dragons she overhears. The bosses do it at the border, Lucy is up front with it.

[sadsac]

Sometimes you have to take a stand. I had a student like that in Ulsan. Owner's son, they actually set up a bedroom in a spare room at the hagwon. He was a terror for a long time, until he exhausted all the teachers and found that nobody would interact with him. He soon learnt what it was like to be a very lonely, unliked boy. He turned into a wonderful kid after a month of serious loneliness.

[Kim Jong Jordan]

Whats a hogwan dragon? I'm just curious.

[mindmetoo]

God. Yeah. The owner's nephew was in one of my classes. I was so darn happy when he moved on to middle school and out of my program. Whew.

[T-dot]

its cause the students who are children or relatives of the hagwon owner, think they have free reign. they think they run the school or use the "im telling so and so."

ive had that with the hagwons ive dealt with. parents know it too, but much easier to pawn them off on the teacher than actually having to deal with it themselves.

[captain kirk]

Whew, I figured you'd all know what I'm talking about. The daughters of the bus driver, who is the brother to the two boss sisters, are perfectly ok. Probably because they're short . Actually they're charming. Maybe because they've been well brought up. They're respectful, tactful, supportive. They can be offensive sometimes, going too far in their status as 'chidren of the brass', but it's a temporary thing. With Lucy it's chronic.
I think the receptionist is a single mom. There's no husband to set the Princess-monster straight. Maybe she's taken on 'manly' qualities such as aggression to fill the void, herself. I'm no shrink but she's a piece of work. If she didn't like being kicked out that day in class, I'd see her across the staff room glaring hate daggers. I'm like, this is insane. It's so bad, her affliction, that I have zero time for it. For example, for a 'laugh', she trotted into the start of class, knowing she was banned, just to see the look of horror on my face . Then she gave a delighted titter/giggle like some kind of child-demon and skipped out the door. Yeah, that was close
Haggies are hilarious.

[ryleeys]

I teach my boss's three daughters, and a few more cousins from the family. They're all perfect angels. My boss's youngest daughter is my favorite student.



This may be due to the fact that my boss has no shame and beats the living hell out of any child that looks at the wall the wrong way. Only 11 teaching days left...

[captain kirk]

I like your boss

[ajuma]

Ignoring a student like that is your best defense. They love the attention...good OR bad. If you ignore them, they figure out other ways to get your attention. Be sure to praise even tiny bits of good behavior.

[captain kirk]

Yeah, that's right. She was high maintenance. Like most princesses. Too bad she's slain

[captain kirk]

Uh oh, she's back. All that drama only 'bought' a one week reprieve on the usual weekday blocks. And lost the three hours on Sunday, one of which starred Carrie.