Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crazykiwi]

hey guys,

here is the diary a young 10 year old, with the most excellent english, wrote to my co-worker. just want some reactions, as in typical korean co-worker style, it has been brushed aside, and evrything is ok, and we should give him another chance.


A teacher can be mean or nice. But @@@@ teacher is the worst worst teacher you evr met. She gives her student homework. she gave me homework to write a diary 2 pages. but im going to write only 1 page (i could write 2 pages but i dont have space!) If a student likes her or loves her he/she is a stupid. i bet nobody in the world likes her, even her parents dont like her. (thats a tiny tiny sad, only 0.1 percent sad) i think nobody will marry her because she is fat, ugly, short, old. i wonder why she has to be so foolish?

(i dont have space to write) why would she placed on earth? she could be in the moon, mars, and the sun! that would be perfect to put her in a spaceship and blast her off to the moon without a space suit. that will be allright. after all, she was bad to us so we need to be bad to her, only her and i made a song

joy to the world! the teacher is dead. we bbq her head. we flush in the potty. now where do we put the head? round and round it go. aren't we very naughty? isnt it funny? i bet it is so funny. by the way. what she did to me was mean!


so folks, what woul;d your reaction have been to a diary such as this tripe? laterz

crazy

[fidel]

Well written for a ten year old. Sure you can point out that's it not appropriate but hey, kids will be kids. Nothing too serious, laugh it off. That's what I would do. If the same letter was written by a middle school/high school kid I'd take action but it's from a 10 year old. What would you have us do? Beat the kid or blow it out of proportion?

[peppermint]

I would very calmly correct it, give her a sticker then say can't wait for next weeks!

[crazykiwi]

Sure he's "just a kid", but a very knowledgeable kid, who's been living in montreal for the last year, knows the score, realises what respect means (i asked him) and should face the consequences. sure it should be laughed off, but this is the third incident in the last week where he has insulted this particular teacher. he knows he's done wrong and he acklwoledged this fact as soon as i bought the subject up. he is 10 western age, so i suppose you could say he is 11 or 12, close enough to middle school for me. anyway, its pretty upsetting if a 10 year can come up with such thoughts at his "tender age".

not in proportion to this situation what so ever, but remember james bolger in england? killed by 2 "kids". now what would be said if it was stated that "oh kids will be kids". not all kids are young and stupid without a realisation as to what the consequences would be if they did wrong. now i know its not the same ball park, but when do kids stop being given that excuse?

[agraham]

Ouch. If that was written about me it would hurt. I would tell the student they've made me sad. I wouldn't laugh it off. It's normal for an eight year old to be sociopathic, but by that age they should be learning some empathy.

[Demonicat]

I would laugh my f'ing a-- off, playfully insult the kid back, then give him props on creativity. AS for the whole "columbine" thing, f that. As it was said before, kids that age are "sociopathic", they haven't developed enough emotionally to recognize the congnizance of others- now if he was 16 or 17 it'd be a different subject. Then again, maybe the issue is another teacher (past or present) that made class fun for the perp by insulting and playful banter. Maybe the kid is bored and just wants to play with you.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

If any of my 10-year-olds could write like that I'd dance for joy.

[The Bobster]

[canadian_in_korea]

I think you are right, that is totally inappropriate and disrespectful. No you can't beat the kid.....he knows what he did was wrong...so let the punishment fit the crime. How long was his diary entry?....1 page?....well ...perhaps he should write a 2 page apology to said teacher, the first page he can apologize and the second page can be the reason why it is wrong to hurt people knowingly. That is what makes the difference here.....he understands exactly what he did...this is not an innocent kid stating their feelings....its meant to be hurtful. The teacher most likely knows that she will get nowhere with the parents as most korean parents have the attitude...kids will be kids.....do you think he would have done that to one of his teachers in Montreal?...HA! not bloody likely. I would make him write another entry, if the parents come to complain....i would explain that he has a very good command of the english language and that is precisely the reason why he has to apologize for being hurtful.

[casey's moon]

The way I read the OP, I don't think that crazykiwi was the subject of the journal entry -- am I wrong? On that note, I think that it is 100% up to the crazykiwi's coworker's discretion how she should deal with this. I honestly don't think that punishing someone for what they wrote in their journal is appropriate -- but talking to them about the content seems like a good idea in this case. As for what Crazykiwi should do -- not much except express his/her opinion about how the co-worker should proceed -- unless I'm the one who misread the OP.

[Real Reality]

Diary Assignment at School Violates Human Rights
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has decided Korean elementary schools have violated their students' rights by forcing them to keep a journal, a common form of homework assignment given to elementary students here.... The commission also dismissed the belief that writing a journal on a regular basis helps children form a good habit of looking back on their daily routine.... "Keeping a journal as homework can't really accomplish its initial goal of leaving one's true personal history. It shouldn't be considered the same as composition assignments."
by Lee Jin-woo, Korea Times (April 7, 2005)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200504/kt2005040717333111990.htm

[kalbi]

I think I would go along with either Peppermint's or The Bobster's suggestion.

However, I would like to raise an issue that one one else has: Privacy rights of this naughty kid.

-Is it possible that this kid's right to privacy is being violated?

-Is it ethically appropriate for a teacher to post the assignments of any students on a public message board without the student's permission?

-Would it matter if this were an essay as opposed to a journal entry??

Would love to hear your thoughts on this issue.

Kalbi

[desultude]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Yu_Bum_suk]