Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crazylemongirl]

I really hate watching kids getting hit. I just saw a kid get hit over the head with a wooden stick multiple times. I know he did something wrong but I really don't think he would have done anything to warrant that. Am I too soft?

[sadsac]

No, you are not to soft. It's interesting that under Korean law it is illegal for teachers to hit kids but they are still doing it. We have some very wealthy Korean friends and their daughter was telling us of instances where their teacher hit them, on one occasion with a broom handle and on the other occasion across the feet with the handle of a badminton raquet. We couldn't believe that the parents just accepted that kind of abuse and they replied that the children must have misbehaved to deserve the punishment. It was so common and they did not understand our horror at some teacher physically assaulting their students. Yet, the kids think this teacher is great. Got me baffled as to their way of thinking.

[just because]

I don't like abusive hitting(eg. with a broomstick) but I think a good hit is deserved every now and then.

I think in the west we have gone too far the other way and anything you do is abuse. I find that situation more ridiculous than the one we have here in Korea.

I'm definantly in support of the kid getting a good whack when they have done something wrong (now bring on the politically correct answers).

[Grotto]

while I do think that beating children is wrong I dont see anything wrong with a physical correction.

I find it interesting that as the 'adult' we are supposed to put up with rudeness, ignorance, and abuse when it comes from children but when we resort to capitol punishment it is labeled 'as child abuse'

I feel that at times it is necessary to use physical correction. I do think that all other methods should be exhausted first.

I have a student in one of my classes who is difficult to say the least....he is either autistic or borderline retarded. He is about 8 or 9 years old and often physically attacks other students..eg: choking, twisting arms behind backs, stabbing them with pencils, shit on a stick sticks, or throwing things. Basically he is a bully. I have tried time outs, yelling, talking, hands above heads, the korean teacher, the director and the owner. None of these have any effect,he comes back into class and resumes his behavior.

Now I send him to the bus driver, who takes the antenna of his cel-phone pulls it back and thwacks him right in the middle of his forehead...result I just have to threated to call Mr. Song and his behaviour is much better.

Find a Mr. Song

[Mr. Pink]

[wylde]

[crazylemongirl]

What's bizzare is that the kids seem to whinge and whine far more with my punishments than with the koreans. As I operate a demerit points system whereby each X on the board represents the number 10. At the end of the whole class they have to write a word or phrase however many times they have earned demerits. There is a huge hollering as the class is made responsible for their actions but a few classes have worked out that I give very little or no homework if they don't earn demerits. I had a horrible class come right after a few sessions of writing their name in english 100times for homework.

I think that coporal punishment is meated out a bit too regularly here, by both the teachers and the older students. Your right the topic has been done to death but I've only been here a few weeks and I have witnessed some stuff that would make even the strongest proponents of corpral punishment wince.

[FUBAR]

[rapier]

[Mr. Pink]

[rapier]

CLG if you actually quit, PM me, I'd love to work somewhere with basic disciplinary support...

[Cheyne]

When I was at high school I had a teacher throw a chair at me....

Needless to say, I was a perfect angel after that!

[crazylemongirl]

here's the thing, despite my boys being a handful at times (as only a room of 40 teenage boys can) I actually really like them and I really enjoy teaching them (even the 3rd years). I love their creativity and energy. A bad day here is a lot better than a good day at my old hogwon.

I don't put up with any crap and my students are learning the hard way that if they act up then they will suffer the consequences, they may be immediate in the form of time standing in the hall but I also like my demerit system because there is a degree of peer control and if they don't do it with me then I have no problem with making them do it in the staff room during lunch time.

My kids already know if I find a cellphone it's mine, if they pass a note i read out the note as a declaration of love for me (embarssment is great teacher!)

I just really don't like the level of physical violence that goes on here. I have to learn to tolerate it but it doesn't mean I enjoy seeing a kid getting smack across the head.

[Saxiif]

I find myself getting crankier and crankier as I learn more and more of what the kids say to me.

But as far as corporal punishment goes, I generally like the "kneeling with your hands in the air" thing more as it takes the little bastards out of comission for a while. The closest I come to corporal punishment is punitive tickling for some of the kindy kids.

[rapier]

A quick simple beating with whatever, would alleviate the need for all the threats, manipulations, confiscations, mind games etc that teachers have to constantly come up with and diversify... it would leave teachers free to concentrate on teaching well behaved students. Not spending 10 minutes at the start of each class trying to get them to sit down...