Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mmstyle]

Seoul bans corporal punishment in schools


05:55 AM Nov 02, 2010
The authorities in Seoul have banned corporal punishment at all schools in the capital.

Teachers are now prohibited from ordering students to do push-ups, hold their arms straight above their heads or do a "duck walk", among others, said Mr Chung Young Chul of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

Students who flout the rules will be required to take special classes or perform community service. Teachers who violate the policy may be suspended or laid off.

More of my MS students will be staring out the hallway windows and cleaning the floors.

link: http://www.todayonline.com/World/Worldinbrief/EDC101102-0000037/Seoul-bans-corporal-punishment-in-all-the-capitals-schools

[grant_steves]

What about beating them with bamboo sticks? Is this still allowed?

Kudos to the Seoul gov't for giving this a go...but making a law and enforcing one are two very different things in this country.

[DosEquisXX]

Yeah that'll be enforced.

[ticktocktocktick]

My c/t told me about this yesterday. She was almost in tears. This applies to Seoul and Gyeonggi only at the mo, but the rest of the country will probably follow sooner rather than later. From what I've been told, my school is going to enforce this pretty rigorously. We still can take away break times though. That's about all that's left. If nothing else, my classroom will be sparkly clean after the worst classes.

It's a long road downhill from here folks

[winterfall]

This is old news. Seoul announced it almost 3 months ago. Every school got notice, at the latest in September. Now they've got these little green detention-like. The education director can say whatever he wants. This is never gonna stick, especially if they don't replace it with a viable substitute.

[RedKristin]

All the teachers here carry ass whomping sticks. Every single one.

I can't imagine them disappearing any time soon.

edit: At this very minute push up beatings are happening for smoking. This probably happens three or four times a week.

[ticktocktocktick]

From what I understand, the beating stick and head shaving went earlier this year. The most recent memo concerns all other forms of physical punishment (hands in the air etc). They've also been told not to check students uniforms as they come in in the morning. Apparently checking for excessively short skirts is a violation of human rights.

[MalFSU1]

My coteacher and me talked about this in the car on the way to school. She seemed concerned over this new policy, afraid it will soon be enacted in our province. All I could respond with was that countries in the west have not had corporal punishment for decades and they seem to get by with disciplining students(as a matter of fact my classrooms in school were never as wild as the ones here in Korea). I think though some of these teachers perhaps need some training from western teachers on effective ways of disciplining students. All in all, in the long run I think it's great for the country's development as a modern society, as long as it's enforced and proper training is given to teachers.

[jvalmer]

[Caffeinated]

[jvalmer]

[tanklor1]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[MalFSU1]

[jonpurdy]

I'm in Ulsan. I noticed a big book on my co-teacher's desk yesterday. It was all about how to discipline students without using physical force. Not that she ever did that, but it shows that school boards are starting to take this non-physical punishment stuff seriously. I guess they figure that eventually you really won't be able to do it so it's best to start practicing beforehand.