Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ChrisPK]

Hello EPIK teachers,

Have you seen this kind of violence in class? And I am curious to know how you or your co-teacher deals with unruly students. Do you do something or just let them turn your class into a "Jerry Springer" frenzy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv_d6laoxzM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ08kEjZMiM

https://twitter.com/allkpopBuzz/status/494536032000671744


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-XwBDCzP7Q

Peace,
Chris

[Squire]

Corporal punishment is needed in schools, that much is certain.

[Mr. BlackCat]

I watched the first video and I think it really hit the nail on the head and did a good job of showing the reality of Korean schools (and society in general).

-They show the video of that teacher clearly hitting the kid and using excessive force. The VP calmly explains that it's the media that is making this up and it's clear the teacher never harmed the kid. To me, that sums up Korean 'reality' very well. What really is doesn't matter, truth can be created from what we want to be true. So many times I've been told a very different 'truth' than what is plainly obvious, right in front of our face, reality. But I've learned like many things here, there is a different definition of reality in Korea. If we can convince enough people to agree the sky is orange, then it is orange. Nothing else matters.

-I'm not getting into whether corporal punishment is good or bad, it's very complicated. But that author sums it up pretty nicely, if indirectly. It's the only tool Korean teachers seem to have. Now that's it's taken away there seems to be almost no classroom management. Through that video you can see that there doesn't seem to be an understanding that there are other methods. It's either beat the kids, make them do physically demanding exercises or do absolutely nothing. I think that's extremely evident in the Korean schools I've worked at. When a kid is completely out of control my CTs will tell me they used to be able to hit them, but now they can't so they can't do anything. And that's what they do; nothing.

-The mother also illustrates the appearances vs substance issue in Korea very well. It's not about whether it hurts the kids, or helps them, or anything else of importance. The problem for her is that other people might see the bruises so other people will know the kid misbehaved, and that's more of a problem than the kid misbehaving or being in pain. For the record, no matter where I stand on corporal punishment, if you're leaving bruises then it's abuse and not punishment.

-You can see how little the kids respect that 'nice' principal (which is about how much most Korean kids respect any principal or teacher, which is to say, very little). He's greeting them at the front of the school, on camera even, and they barely even acknowledge him. Then the kids smoking in the bathroom, again on camera, don't even give him a second look. Even the bad kids in my high school would have gone through the motions of putting the smokes out or getting down from the urinals (though I think even the most brain dead kids from my school wouldn't have been sitting on dirty piss stained urinals in the first place). And I'm sure nothing came of it anyway, so why would they react at all?

-Those classroom scenes were hilarious. Again, this was on camera! Imagine when it's not there. We can all imagine, as I'm sure most of us see the same thing everyday. "Oh, poor baby. You're so busy. Yesterday must have been stressful!" And you know what, I bet half of those sleeping kids are faking to get that attention and reinforce the idea that they're so busy. Hey, they learn it from the adults in their lives who do everything within their power to convince everyone how busy they are while at the same time doing almost nothing. Yes, Korean students' lives are so terrible. They must study (aka play on their smartphones) while having absolutely no other responsibilities in their lives.

Anyway, the argument about corporal punishment will go on and on. What struck me most was how much the video represented what I've seen in Korea and Korean schools over the years. It was actually very honest, and I'd recommend watching it to anyone thinking of coming over here for the first time. It's certainly not a terrible place at all but I think lots of Westerners have this idea that Korean schools are organized and the kids are all respectful and disciplined. This might open their eyes to the reality a bit.

[The Cosmic Hum]

[Chaparrastique]

[Steelrails]

Why was video number 4 included? It was student on student and might have been a work.

Video number 3 was a single slap and we had no idea what was said.

Video number 2 was bad though. Totally unnecessary.

But yeah, gotta agree that CP needs to exist as an option. It should be rarely used. It shouldn't be the first option. But it's a tool teachers should have in their belt. Different people respond differently to different kinds of motivation. Some respond to positive encouragement. Some respond to peer pressure or family involvement. Others don't give a crap about any of those things and only respond to force.

I blame the parents more than the teachers. That and the teachers shouldn't react in anger with CP, but have a defined CP punishment system, ala navy ships- Swear at a student- 5 whacks with the stick or clean the bathroom for a day. Swear at the teacher- 25 whacks or clean the bathroom for a week. Enumerated punishments and the like...

[The Cosmic Hum]

[jvalmer]

[happiness]

I was working at a high school when the anti-corporal punishment rule went into effect. Literally, they were beating the kids one day and the other they werent. Now, the kids dont have to cut their hair anymore.

I know it sounds bad, but in the context of Korea, that was bad. The boys cutting their hair lowered them a few pegs and the fear of getting bitchslapped really kept them in line. Now 3 years in, and I think kids here are getting much worse, theyre acting like their ajushhi and ajumma parents nowadays. Still must be better than certain parts of the US or the UK.

[fermentation]

The above examples were the norm when I was going to school. The fact that this is even an issue at all shows me how much things have changed.

[trueblue]

[atwood]

I'm always surprised how many on this forum so strongly support corporal punishment.

Let me ask you this, sr style: Would you, if you caught your girlfriend stealing money from you, beat her? How would you and with what and for how long would you beat her? What if you caught her cheating on you?

Violence begets violence.

[jvalmer]

[atwood]

[yodanole]

If it does not involve the use of silver bullets, then it is just a waste of time ....... and the Crisis-Evac-Chopper Mothers are even worse ....