Korean Job Discussion Forums

[marckot]

In my four years of living in Korea I have seen many different types of punishment and I thought I had seen it all.

I was standing outside the teachers� room when I heard a teacher screaming his lungs out. I couldn't catch what he was saying because in his anger he was talking incoherently. Well he soon appeared around the corner with a second grader (high school) in tow. He had the kid by the ear and dragged him along. A few teachers appeared from the staff room to have a look.

The teacher then turned around and b!tch slapped the student like I have never seen before. It echoed down the hallway and sent the student spinning. The kid went down and held his face. I could see tears running down his cheeks. The teacher then lined up for another record breaking slap but luckily other male teachers jumped in and separated the two.

They took the teacher into the staff room and told him to calm down. It took some time to calm this dude down. He was fuming mad and kept on trying to get back to the student to give him another slap.

I could see in the faces of some teachers that they were not impressed with this guy slapping a student even the vice-p looked quite disgusted with the teacher.

I can't understand how a teacher can do that to a student. I have been teaching for almost 10 years now and students have made me fuming mad at times but I always keep calm and try to talk to them rather than beat the living daylights out of them. How immature must you be not to be able to keep yourself in check and control your own emotions?

[Bibbitybop]

Technically, hitting students is illegal. But it happens. Not to the degree of your OP, but it happens all the time.

In recent years, students have busted out their camera and video phones. This has resulted in actions against the teachers.

[TheChickenLover]

Sometimes, a student really does need a smack now & then to realize that they should not do things.

Though I don't condone violence, it is necessary sometimes in extreme cases of dangerous behaviour or doing things that could be harmful to others.

Things I've seen.

Students fighting with razors
Throwing rocks at the school windows
spitting in each other's food
extreme bullying
violent behavior towards teachers & other students
creating small fires
throwing sand in each other's faces

These activities can lead to serious injury such as blindness or another Virginia incident. In some cases, students don't care unless you give them a serious smack. The schools here can't expel students & the students know it.

Back home, they'd be expelled, here we're stuck with bullies, they dont' care & often can't be reasoned with because we're not 'cool'.

In cases like that, a good decisive attitude adjustment may be in order

Chicken

[Lekker]

Last year at my school, a student whipped out a knife and swung it in my face thinking that I would be impressed.

[CentralCali]

[marckot]

[mrsquirrel]

It's no violence in school day today.

[genezorm]

i agree with a chicken, kids need to be taught lessons

if the kid who got slapped in the original post was doing something chicken mentioned

Students fighting with razors
Throwing rocks at the school windows
spitting in each other's food
extreme bullying
violent behavior towards teachers & other students
creating small fires
throwing sand in each other's faces

i guarantee he will think twice before he pulls something like that again...scare em straight

i had a kid a few years back maybe 8 or 9 years old try to slap me....i grabbed his hand tightly before he made contact....gave him a death stare while i held his hand and then gave it a forceful thrust away....and then continued the death stare and said 'no'

[Netz]

[Ilsanman]

I have also had students attack me. One little shit started slapping and kicking at my legs (he was short). I grabbed his wrists but he kept kicking so I shoved him down.

Another boy tried to punch me, not sure if it was a joke or not. I caught his fist and squeezed it until he screamed. He didn't try that again.

[sargx]

Students can get expelled here.. 3 students were expelled for having their hair too long. Another student got expelled for fighting. They just go to another high school there. Not really a big deal I guess.

[idonojacs]

Yes and no.

If you let students get out of control, being Mr. Nice Guy and asking them to behave won't work in Korea. Making them stand at the back of the room, over and over again, may not work. But it will get through eventually. Corporal punishment with the same kid also may not get through.

The key, I think, is for the teacher to correct minor misbehavior in class from the beginning and consistently. If all the teachers in the school do this consistently, then you do not get problems with kids getting out of control.

If you have a school with problems, the teacher should set out the rules for behavior on the first day of class.

For some reason, there was an entire grade last year that was out of control. This year the school seems to be better. And I am seeing teachers correct students verbally, sometimes fairly harshly, at the first infraction. It seems like they got together and decided to change things.

So, in other words, the school and the teachers should not let things get so out of control that that kind of corporal punishment is necessary.

[Mi Yum mi]

I had a kid pull a knife on me once. I think it was a joke and he said it was, but I almost snapped his wrist. If there is a weapon involved...*beep* it...violence is the only option.

[Typhoon]

Man, I don't know if hitting a student is ok. I think the hands up punishment is pushing the limits of acceptability. I am a pretty ruthless teacher when it comes to punishment and being tough on kids, but it is really unprofessional to lose your cool to the point of actually hitting a student. With students it isn't personal. They are just being asses because that is what they do. By hitting students you are teaching them that violence and losing you temper is an accpetable way to solve problems. For the record it is not ok to solve problems using violence. People who are not intelligent enough (or have a language barrier) to talk through their issues and problems are the ones that fight and use violence. There are betters ways to discipline and teach students how to be productive members of society. No wonder Koreans (as a generalization) fly off the handle all the time and can't solve their problems with logical thinking. If the high school teachers aren't able to control themselves and act rationally how the heck can the students they teach learn these skills???

[Khenan]