Korean Job Discussion Forums

[decolyon]

We need a blacklist site to warn people about bad schools to work for. Also maybe for bad restaurants, or bad stores, just a general list of places to avoid or places that aren't foreigner friendly.

Hold your horses, by "not foreigner friendly" I don't mean places that don't speak English. There are places that clearly have anti-foreigner sentiment and don't appreciate white, black, or dark Asian customers.

But since I haven't touched Dreamweaver since I had to finish an art credit my last year at university, I nominate someone else to start it up.

Just so it's not all bad, there could be a part of the site that's like a gold list. Highly recommended places to work, eat, shop, blah blah blah. That way people can't say we're just dumping on Korea. Maybe it could even be a wiki, that way people can just post and edit at will. wikikorea.org or wikikimchi.org (hey godaddy says that one is only $10)

Thoughts?

[DaHu]

By advertising which places are "not foreigner friendly", you'd actually be HELPING them by keeping out the client�le they don't want.

[WillTurnerinVanCity]

The "blacklist" issue comes up periodically in these forums, and I have a fundamental issue with it.

Unless the blacklist site has an element of "due process," then it is prone to abuse.

Imagine if a school could simply post your full name, address and DOB and say that you're an awful teacher, without ever having to provide actual evidence, or without ever giving you the opportunity to refute the allegations. For lack of a better word, a site like the frequently proposed "blacklist" would simply be a public platform for slander.

Yes, there are schools, restaurants, people, etc., out there who are simply awful to others, but there has to be an element of check and balance or anybody with any gripe, with any agenda, can publicly defame another person or another business that may be perfectly legitimate and honest.

Even "review" sites have this drawback. Just think of a restaurant that you've been to that honestly was just a good/mediocre restaurant, but had awful reviews from people who felt more strongly than you did about the food. Imagine if you were a hard working family of that restaurant, and you had a waiter who rubbed somebody the wrong way, and somebody went on a website trashing your family's livelihood simply because they didn't like the cut of your employee's jib? Long after that employee is gone, that review/blacklist entry will still be up there impacting you.

So yes, it would be great if there were a way to honestly and effectively monitor the people, schools, restaurants, etc. that are dishonest, but I don't see the creation of a "blacklist" website as an effective way of doing it.

[sojusucks]

A blacklist would be a great idea but there are problems. Hagwon owners change the names of their schools at the drop of a hat. They even swap ownership of their hogwans within their family to keep the taxman and pension offices off their trails. That means it would be hard to keep up-to-date on bad individual hakwan's names and owners.

But a blacklist site listing public schools would work. They can't change names or personnel as quickly.

[WillTurnerinVanCity]

[minos]

[Ramen]

i want blacklist for worthless foreigner as well. those that only care to party and cause trouble to fuel anti-foreigner sentiment.

[DigitalSoju]

You don't even need dream weaver, just install wordpress or mediawiki on the domain.

[RMNC]

We need a school review forum.

As far as sites go, esllist.com is the best one, but it's only got 150 or so reviews. Not much help for most people.

[DigitalSoju]

You don't even need dream weaver, just install wordpress or mediawiki on the domain.

[lifeinkorea]

I think you need to confront the "unfriendlies" every step of the way.

Segregating and avoiding bad places not only keep the cancer alive, but it gives it room to grow.

[isitts]

[Artris]

While a 'perfect' black list would obviously be the best choice, but it is far to prone to abuse for practical purposes. I think a whitelist would be best: while different people have different standards, a quick writeup of approval for one hagwon or another would be useful.

That being said it also has its flaws: legitimate reviews being the largest.

[Whistleblower]

Probably an accreditation system which recognises professional Hagwons would be better. Perhaps like the British Council accreditation that schools in the UK apply for. If there was a Korean equivalent which provides some confidence with Hagwons would be more useful than a blacklist.

[northway]

Eh, I think it takes one crazy person/terrible teacher to entirely ruin a blacklist site. My school has gotten horrible write-ups on review/blacklist sites, but it's all the same former teacher who was fired because she demanded a week off to go on a mission to India, three weeks or so before said mission was to depart. As a result, the school was in a bind and didn't feel like they could fire her in time, but cut her loose after about eleven months. She proceeded to demolish her apartment (seriously, broken furniture and enough trash inside that we all wondered whether she brought in trash from outside the apartment to make the place a bit filthier). Now, when you have people like that contributing to a blacklist site, how do you go about separating the BS from the reality?