Korean Job Discussion Forums

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

Remove violent teachers
Under the new measures, teachers will be dismissed or suspended if they are caught sexually or physically abusing students. Those who are sacked because of such misconduct will not be allowed to seek any kind of teaching job.... As recently as this week, a high school teacher in Gwangju was charged with groping female students while under the influence of alcohol during a field trip to Jeju Island. The incident followed highly publicized cases in which teachers slapped the faces of first-grade students and hit the head of another with a broomstick.
Editorial/Op-Ed, The Korea Herald (July 14, 2006)
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/07/14/200607140009.asp

Natalia · Joined: 10 Mar 2006

What is their definition of physical abuse? The Korean teachers at my school thinks it's funny when they beat students with sticks and lift them by the ears. I cannot imagine many people in this country will pay much attention to laws against abuse.

Hater Depot · Joined: 29 Mar 2005

Well, technically corporal punishment is already illegal..

alabamaman · Joined: 25 Apr 2006

passport220 · Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Location: Gyeongsangbuk-do province

Wow! This sounds like a serious crack down! Sexually abuse a student and you MAY not be able to teach any more.

How about some jail time!

Benicio · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 4:52 am Post subject:

At least it's a step in the right direction.

I remember in the US, when this happened, if it didn't get to the press, they would just transfer the teacher.

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

I-am-me · Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Location: Hermit Kingdom

I kinda enjoy watching the teachers beat on the kids. More of that should be instituted in America.. where the kids beat up on the teachers!!!!! Shocked

kat2 · Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Location: Busan, South Korea

This place is so wierd. Its 2006 and they have just decided that sexually abusing kids means that you probably shouldn't be a teacher. Jesus

Ilsanman · Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Location: Bucheon, Korea

A lot of teachers who get in that kind of trouble start working in hagwons.

Everyone's gotta eat.

I-am-me · Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Location: Hermit Kingdom

John Henry · Joined: 24 Sep 2004

They are talking about Korean teachers too right? I know hey aren't just singling out the evil foreigner that cones here to get drunk and molest third graders on Jeju.

I can't see any Korean teachers giving up the stick.

Benicio · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:51 pm Post subject:

John Henry, this is aimed at the Korean teachers.
Believe me, foreigners would get into a whole lot more trouble.

As far as I know, all of the most recent cases have been perpetrated by Korean teachers, including the "Jeju incident".

vlcupper · Joined: 12 Aug 2004 Location: Gangnam

The foreign teachers aren't allowed to have sticks at my hagwon. But I use them sometimes as crowd control. I never hit the kids, but I hit the desks pretty hard and that always seems to scare the hell out of them.

vox · Joined: 13 Feb 2005 Location: Jeollabukdo

at my school the principal has formally launched the phasing out of sticks and any instrument for corporal punishment (paddles, different kinds of sticks, anything else I don't want to imagine.) I hear my Korean co-teacher sometimes complain the kids are rowdy because of this. I disagree. Explaining and in rare cases peer humiliation has worked pretty well for problems I've seen.

My co-teacher no longer uses a stick as a result but just this morning she 'flicked' a kid on the temple (with her fingernail) for doing something. It's quite funny in retrospect.

She's been technologically reduced to 'flicking'. Laughing