Korean Job Discussion Forums

alpope23 · Joined: 15 Mar 2006

saw something I thought I had left behind in America today. One of the boys had a full opened boxcutter held to the throat of another boy, right in my classroom. I thought they were just fooling around, and started to the back of the English room when he saw me. He retracted the blade and slid into his seat, trying to hide the boxcutter from me. I took it and gave it to the coteacher and tried to explain what had happened after class, but I think her language level is not up to the task of assault with a deadly weapon.

So is this the norm? Anyone been in a similar position here?

Milwaukiedave · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Location: Goseong

Maybe I'd be overreacting, but I would have hauled the kid down to the principals office and made sure there was someone to translate. I would have told the prinipal that this is completely unacceptable and that the school could be sued by a parent had this little gag (if it was that) had ended up with someone hurt.

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

The kids here all use them as pencil sharpeners and no one seem to see the danger in kids playing with them. On our school trip this year one of my kids actually managed to get her cute little pink Hello Kitty box cutter onto the airplane for the first leg of our trip. Then it got confiscated at the airport in Japan and she got taken aside and searched. I don't know if the Korean airport security missed it or thought it was harmless.

kat2 · Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Location: Busan, South Korea

I am always shocked to see the kids with these. What happened to the harmless pocket size pencil sharpeners we all had as kids? The worst you could do was scrape a pinky finger in there!
Although Korea seems to be pencil sharpener challenged. The big cartoon shaped ones couldn't sharpen a pencil if the fate of Dokdo depended on it. Why get a real pencil sharpener when you could just hand out knives to 8 year olds?

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

I swear once a teacher had a story that on his first day one rather disturbed kid took one look at him, flashed his box cutter, and banzai charged the teacher screaming "die foreigner!"

oldfatfarang · Joined: 19 May 2005 Location: On the road to somewhere.

That kid NEVER comes into your class again. NEVER - period. Not even after a couple of months face-saving absense. If the school slips the kid back in quietly (as they do), don't teach the class until the kid leaves the room.

okokok · Joined: 27 Aug 2006

Knew a Canadian (not a teacher) who brought his family over here including a 3 year old daughter.
3 year old went to a birthday party and got a gift package upon leaving the party.
Later the guy hears a scream from the girls bedroom. Runs in to find that she cut off her thumb.
The parents of the birthday girl had put boxcutters into the gift set they were handing out to the children.
The thumb was found and later reattached.

Lizara · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Location: Seoul

chilgok007 · Joined: 28 May 2006 Location: Chilgok

Haha, on Friday a kid brought a loaded BB gun to my class and started "jokingly" threatening me and the fellow students with it. Granted, it wouldn't have killed anyone, but it sure could have taken out an eye. I immediatly went to tell my co-teacher and asked if she could remove the gun and the student from my class. She just sighed and gave me a look as if to say "so, what else is new?" Nothing came of it. By the way, this kid beat the crap out of another student on the school bus coz the other student "looked too Western." There was no disciplinary action for this incident either, save a phone call home to some very uninterested parents.

riley · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Location: where creditors can find me

Man, one of my boys brought his BB gun to my class and I immediately took it away from him. (hyperactive boy doped up on sugar with a gun, bad idea) Then proceeded to show that I should have one either because I kept playing with it and shooting the wall and the floor with it. Not kids, nor threatening them, but still the lesson was learned that if you bring a toy to school, teacher will play with it. Later, I learned that while those things don't have the power that the guns back home have, shooting one into your hand will still hurt like hell.

alabamaman · Joined: 25 Apr 2006

Panic · Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Location: Busan

When I read this thread it made me consider how many times I have witnessed my students do stupidly dangerous things in the last 4 years teaching here. Much to my surprise I couldn't recall any serious incidents that involved box cutters.

Panic

Lizara · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Location: Seoul

alabamaman · Joined: 25 Apr 2006

[quote="Lizara"]

adverge · Joined: 16 May 2006

One of my kids loaded their extra lead holders for their mechanical pencils with toothpick, and was shooting them across the room with the spring action in the holder. I took it away and took him to the head Korean teacher and she upbraided him. I've never seen any other weapons in my class. I don't even let the kids play with their pencils when we're not doing work or rock back in their chairs (one kid fell back and since then I've been worried someone will split their skull). I think my kids are a bit scared of me now.