Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rapier]

I've had an accident-prone 2 days: yesterday (although I am totally unaware of the incident) apparently one of my brats trapped his finger in my candy drawer and got in the way of the basket I was carrying.
Today I'm told that his father wants to "confront me" for "whacking his son over the head with the basket, and hurting little emperors finger".

I replied through the medium channeler Korean teacher "tell him i want to sue him because his boy dong-chimmed me and threw a ball at me, not to mention stole the cap off my head in class last week". Seriously, I said, i'm happy to talk to him, but i have no idea what he's talking about."

Today I pulled a girl away from the door, to sit down, not hard, but there was a "click", followed by gales of tears for half an hour afterwards. I've accidentally pulled her wrist out of joint and she is now in a sling!! OMG!! Craziest thing is, the parent doesn't seem to be atall bothered.

So, how can one parent go nuts over absolutely nothing, and another be unfazed by a wounded limb????

And where do these irate parents get off blaming the foreign teacher for every little accident that befalls thier child- while allowing us no means to safely control or discipline their kids?

[rapier]

Wonjangnim; "just apologise and be polite"

Co-teacher: "just pretend you remember the incident and say you're sorry, or the father will be angry".

Me: I want the father to teach a class of unruly brats in a foreign country where they don't understand Korean, have kids throw stuff at him, be disallowed from disciplining them in any way whatsoever, then apologise to their parents for something he knows nothing about"

[agraham]

Yup people can be crazy, and people can be parents, so parents can be crazy.
Apparently the teacher I replaced got exasperated at one of the kids and told him "you're worthless". The kid's dad came to the school and freaked out to the point where they had to call the police.
The teacher left pretty soon after that.

[Real Reality]

[rapier]

Koreans are forever harking at what good loving parents they are. But to them, love means spoiling the kid until they need psychotherapy.

My parents were happy enough for me to grow my own wings- I remember making a train trip the length of Britain at the age of 12 alone.
Koreans would not let their overgrown 30 year old daughter go on holiday to another country-and if they did they'd send her cash every week to support her instead of letting her find her own job.

The parents care about the boys but don't bother about the girls. You could throw a chair at a girl and the parents wouldn't bother, but look at a precious boy the wrong way and his parents will be all over you the next day. i yelled at a boy for hitting a girl full in the face once- next morning the angry mum pulled him out the hagwon. DUMB.
I've half a mind to punch daddy's lights down the slippery flagstones of the hagwon fire escape.

[Kimchieluver]

I had a parent complain to me that his son thought I didn't like him anymore. To be honest the kid is a great guy and a pleasure to teach. However, one day, when all the students were having a vocabulary test after my class. I got pretty sick and tired of many of the students not paying attention to me. So when I asked him "What's the answer to question 5?" and he replied "I dont know". I looked at his book a little closer and found that he wasn't even on the right chapter. So I took his open vocab book and put it on my desk.

He complained to his father that I did not like him and that all the other students were studying too. His father called and I explained to him that I expect more of his son than the other students becasue he has much more potential. That was okay, but now the kid is a little angry at me because he has to study 20 minutes extra three times a week.

Moral of the story, just say "Your kid is great at English so I give him extra care". That will probably work for 90% of disgruntled parents.

[fidel]

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

I've learned a few things about rapier from this post:

1) rapier assaults children and later has no recollection of doing so. He gets angered easily when they act up, and subsequently causes them bodily harm, although he doesn't realize until later how much force he has used. Classic case of alcohol-fueled rage. Or possibly Incredible Hulkentia

2) rapier gets angry when people "unfairly" prosecute him for something he has no recollection of doing, and is known to make violent threats towards his "persecutors." Textbook case of paranoid-schizophrenia.

but most shockingly of all...

3) rapier carries a basket.

Approach with extreme caution.

Sparkles*_*

[Kyrei]

I remember being in grade 3 and I used to take forever to walk home from school. I would dawdle and wander about, play in the ravines and forested areas along the way home, and generally take twice (if not three times) as long as necessary to come home. When I did arrive home, my mother would be furious (or at least very worried) and scold me. I clearly remember telling her that my teacher kept me late after class. When asked why, I gave the classic child answer, "I don't know." The fifth time "my teacher kept me late" the teacher got a very angry visitation from my parents, and met it with a very sincere, "I have no idea what you are talking about. I have never kept _____ late after class." My parents were now embarrassed and very angry. The teacher was very embarrassed and angry... I was loudly scolded by both sets of angry, embarrassed adults for this.

The long and short of it is, kids are kids and will say whatever they can think of to escape immediate blame or shame, regardless of what the truth is. I think we have to remember what we were really like as kids and not how we imagined outselves to be.

[agraham]

How true, how true. I used to get really upset when kids wouldn't pay attention or weren't entirely respectful. Then I remembered what I was like. Now I have a little bit of wriggle room. But my boundries are clear. You don't have to pretend you love learning English, and you don't even have to pretend you like your teacher. If you refuse to learn I'm not going to force you. But you must always have your book open to the right page, you can't raise your voice or leave your chair or bother the students that are paying attention.