Korean Job Discussion Forums

DaHu · Joined: 09 Feb 2011

In Korean school, they will be indoctrinated with Korean culture. Homeschool them.

Captain Corea · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Location: Seoul

A lot of these posts match my experiences, and those of my friends', as well.

Some have had absolutely NO issues with schools here, and in fact, prefer them over "back home". Heck, one guy that just moved back home crushed his daughter when he told her that schools in Canada don't have swimming pools in them like her's did in Korea.

On the other hand, I've known a few couples who have pulled their kids out of public school here because of complaints about .... Well, a number of things. I actually just had a lunch with a Kyopo friend of mine that was complaining about this very issue. She said that her kid's public school teacher cared nothing about teaching, and simply focused on keeping order in the class. Shes considering sending her kid to International School.

I think it's a combination of luck of the draw, the kid's personality, location, and family preferences.

tortugaverde · Joined: 14 Aug 2011 Location: Busan

My kids are both white with blonde hair. They have attended schools outside thier home country for the past 3 years. Actually, my son has never attended a school in the US. They have always been the "white" kids in the school. Sure they stand out, yes they have had problems (language mostly) but overall, it has been worth it. They are currently learning Korean and are both fluent in Spanish. They have made friends from all over the world and understand that cultural differences exist. They have a good grasp on Latin American history and I hope that they will grow to understand more about Korean history and Asian history over the next year.

Weigookin74 · Joined: 26 Oct 2009

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

myenglishisno · Joined: 08 Mar 2011 Location: Geumchon

brento1138 · Joined: 17 Nov 2004

Korean kids are not going to be racist towards biracial children of white-asian mix. In fact, they will likely be 'reverse-racist.' Your kid will probably be the popular kid (at least in middle school and high school) and envied for the natural brown hair, double eye-lids, etc. Plus your kid will probably have a stellar English ability compared to the other kids.

I don't personally see a problem with sending your kid to Korean public school. I wouldn't say the public schools are of the highest quality, but they are fine. Besides, the fees you would be paying for an international school here are ridiculous.

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

Purely anecdotal, but I've heard from a couple of sets of parents that the main problem, if there is one at all, is not the attitude of the other kids, who would get over any racial difference within a very short space of time, but the cack-handedness of the teachers who have no training or savvy about how to quietly and discretely integrate a foreign or biracial kid into a class.

ATM SPIDERTAO · Joined: 05 Jul 2009 Location: seoul, south korea

look at your kid objectively...

do they look good?

they could be korean looking but if they're fat or ugly, they will be picked on. it doesn't really matter what race they are. and as long as you're white, the racism won't be that bad. asian people are extremely racist to one another. i'm chinese from china and i've been to places like thailand where other chinese speaking asians like from singapore have just completely stopped talking to me when they found out i was from mainland china. they then told my white friend to stop being friends with me because i'm from mainland china, and asked if i kept it secret from him. which like boggled his mind. in my school, there are a lot of mixed koreans + philippines students. they seem to get along well as long as they can speak korean and look decent enough. i would say, get them in the system as early as possible. because it's towards the later years that discrimination really starts to play. back at that age, when u tell a kid "it's wrong to discriminate" they actually take it at face value. u tell a 14 year old kid ANYTHING and they will try to rebel. there's this one particularly naughty half korean/half filipino kid that i didn't know was a mixed student who drove me nuts but his sister was absolutely sweet. everyone, the teachers and students just treated him like a problem korean kid and treated the older sister like a good korean kid. HOWEVER, since i am korean looking, the teachers are honest with me. none of them want to be in a multiracial school because they feel that the students are more likely to be difficult to manage and that migrant workers and their children are less likely to be easy to teach. i think many americans would be upset by a remark like this but i'm a little more open minded to racism than most westerners i've met. being a spoiled asian kid growing up in canada, i can tell you i was a nightmare and that no teacher has ever taught a student like me before in canada hahaha like i would walk around and flip every girl student's skirts and pick my nose and chase older students with it because nobody taught me it was wrong back home and the teachers couldn't hit me because that's illegal and up until the OTHER kids were old enough to bully me into acting properly (around grade 5), i just acted like the worst kid in the world haha

DaHu · Joined: 09 Feb 2011

Parents don't always cause racism. Sometimes it's the races (even though you PC folks like to act like everyone's an angel).

If you constantly get the shaft from a group of people, you're going to hate that group of people. That's how it works.

Some of you might think, "no, it's just individuals" which is true, but rarely do people think like that until they meet an individual and don't think that way about that one particular person.

My cat was racist. I sure didn't teach it that.

minos · Joined: 01 Dec 2010 Location: kOREA

I met some white dudes and black dudes who grew up here from childhood to adulthood.

They all seemed to enjoy it. One is 17 and had a blast....says the Korean fluency made banging Korean girls stupidly easy.

I think they went to international school though, but they're filled with Koreans anyway.

There is a mixed white kid at the elem. school I work at it. He seems to enjoy it and fairly happy. I don't see other boys dunking him in toliets.

I have some mixed chinese kids. Everyone is aware of it and some of them are made fun of it....but they're stupid kids so maybe that's why.

drydell · Joined: 01 Oct 2009

interesting thread and some surprisingly positive responses..

hypothetical question to all the people who have tried different schooling with their foreign or mixed-race children in Korea..

If going to an international school was free to you, would you choose an international school or the standard Korean education system?

Mr. Peabody · Joined: 24 Sep 2010 Location: here

thrylos · Joined: 10 Jun 2008

PatrickGHBusan · Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:07 am Post subject:

For what its worth, our mixed son (Korean - White) attended day care for a couple of years in Korea (kindergarten style daycares). He had no big issues to speak of, made friends, had fighs like normal kids do.

The second year at his daycare, two foreign kids were added to the group (A German kid and a French kid). They merged with the group pretty fast and before you know it, all it was was a group of KIDS having fun.