Korean Job Discussion Forums

Velvet Sea · Joined: 09 Jun 2003

Many English speakers are now coming to Korea for a short term or long term experience teaching english. For those of you who plan to go back to your own country and start a relationship, get married, and have children, do you have any thoughts on how your experience in Korea will influence how you raise your children? I've often thought about the morals and health issues that may effect my parenting ways (directly or indirectly) when I go back to Canada and have children. Maybe from the lessons I've learned from observing Korean parents????

I'm not getting any younger I guess that's why this question often enters my thoughts.

Will there be a whole generation of us English teachers that raise our children eatting different food (healthier food), influencing a strong work ethic, having higher acheivement expectations, etc, etc? Some of us might see that North American children amoung other countries around the world have it too easy.

What are your thoughts? Out of curiousity, for those of you married to Korean woman or men are there often conflicts on your ideas of raising your children?

Corporal · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

I personally haven't seen too many "Korean" parenting methods that I've been positively influenced by.

Mostly I see kids running unattended around their apartment buildings in the streets. Or being forced to attend hagwon after hagwon so that they're burnt out before they're 10.

Just this morning while outside the post office I saw a mother whose (maybe) 2-year-old toddler had wandered off (because she wasn't watching him properly). When she discovered he was on his way towards the street she took off after him, grabbed him, smacked him HARD on the butt and yelled "hajima" about fifty times in the poor little guy's ear. Now this is just my impression, but she looked furious (rather than concerned that her child was about to get run over.)

I'm sure everyone will feel the need to jump in and defend Korean mothers now, but this is just what I saw, and it's not the first time either.

makushi · Joined: 08 Jun 2003

HardyandTiny · Joined: 03 Jun 2003

I would put less emphasis on higher education and more emphasis on becoming a skilled craftsperson, for example; learning how to build strong customized wooden or metal furniture.
It seems no matter where I go in the world there is a great demand for quality workmanship and few people that can do it.

Circus Monkey · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: In my coconut tree

Zyzyfer · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2003 3:17 am Post subject:

Velvet Sea · Joined: 09 Jun 2003

GirlFromMars · Joined: 15 May 2003 Location: Corea do Sul

I've found that travelling and living abroad, in general, has influenced the way I plan to raise my kids, at least in the sense that I'll adopt a very open minded approach

plus, teaching really gives you the opportunity to observe a whole range of children at close-hand, sometimes the parenting influence is soooo obvious. i feel like slapping some parents sometimes when i see how their kids act.

oh and diet makes a huge difference, yes teach them to eat healthy and above all avoid preservatives and additives.

Cthulhu · Joined: 02 Feb 2003

Strange, but I seem to get the impression that Korean parents are too soft and unwilling to discipline, yet I run into these examples (such as the present one in this thread) where the opposite occurs. I know Korean parents work their kids to death in the hagwon chain gang, but do you think the norm is to spare the rod or use it full force? From my experience I think the former is true more often.

jh · Joined: 04 Jul 2003 Location: Seoul

Okay, I would like to reply to this post because I am a parent and a hagwon teacher. I wonder how many of those who responded are parents?

I would like to raise my kid here, and there. I am not an apologist - I'm not apologizing for the Korean system; rather, I am defending it. I like it