Korean Job Discussion Forums

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

There is one boy at my academy unlike any other I've ever encountered. He screams really loudly at slight teasing or even seemingly for no reason at all. It's a very unhappy screech, sounding like some animal in the wild.

I've had a few headaches after some of the classes with him, and another attention-span=zero/no English kid. The class has 12 kids. The other 10 are OK generally as basic level elem. kids go.

The emotionally troubled boy just freaks me out sometimes. He has these outbursts nearly every class. I noticed once one of his legs looked quite bruised. I'm guessing his home life is not good. He's normal-looking, of normal intelligence, not dumb, sensitive, just really loud when he screams. The secretary has taken him out of the class a few times. Sometimes he sits on the floor or under the table. I think he's in grade 3.

igotthisguitar · Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:01 am Post subject:

Quite possibly the victim of parental abuse.

It does happen, even here in Korea y'know.

Natalia · Joined: 10 Mar 2006

alabamaman · Joined: 25 Apr 2006

schwa · Joined: 18 Jan 2003 Location: Yap

Abuse at home might be a reaction to his problem rather than the cause of it.

Do a search on Asperger syndrome, might be that.

Hopefully the school system will pick up on what ails him -- teachers are becoming more sensitized to psychological problems & special ed programs are improving.

Be kind to the child.

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

OP, I think that you might be wondering what you can do to help this kid. Obviously you can't do anything about the home situation, but in class, give the kid LOTS of praise...even for the most simple things. Also, try to pair him with someone who won't tease him.

I once had a K student with LOTS of emotional problems, and having him sit on my lap while doing the activites worked well. It might not be appropriate for a grade 3, but give him a lot of "good" touching.

Just curious...does he have a sibling in the hagwon?

Hapkido-In · Joined: 24 Jun 2006

I wouldn't think parental abuse right away with a kid that has bruises on his legs. He's most likely in Taekowndo and has been sparring. It's pretty easy to get your legs bruised up sparring. It also seems like a strange place to hit a child...on the legs.

Also, I've noticed that Korean kids love to beat each other. They play weird games where the loser gets hit. I've read countless journals of kids 'playing wrestling' that resulted in bleeding...that sort of thing.

Of course, I have no idea...but there's a few extra thoughts you can put in your head that might seem just as plausible, if not more, than the parents beating the little dude.

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

Indeed. I wasn't jumping to any conclusions about whatever is behind this boy's emotionality. A few replies seemed to jump to conclusions, but really we don't know. The staff at the school is a bit concerned. The teachers are aware that he gets upset easily. The thing is, he just freaks out for no obvious reason. I'll be just doing my usual thing in the classroom, and suddenly he'll burst out, and it is loud. It's a strange thing to experience.

hugo_danner · Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Location: korea

Maybe meet with the parents?

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

He is coming again to the next session. All the teachers, Koreans too, regard him as "unpossible"

VanIslander

Samantha · Joined: 20 Jul 2006 Location: Jinan-dong Hwaseong

the suggestion to research into Asperger syndrome is very very good. My best-friend is a highly functionally sufferer of asperger. It's a form of autism--they don't handle change very well that is one of the biggest symptoms.

You say that the student starts screaming for "no apparent reason". Does the screaming happen when you try to switch from one activity to another--i.e. from a game to workbook exercise or from a Q&A session to book work? A lot of times asperger kids need to be slowly transitioned from one activity to another. "Normal" kids can usually switch relatively fast from one activity to another they may whine about doing it or try to convince you to give them a couple of extra moments, but if the child has aspergers a rapid change is cause for a nuclear meltdown.

One of the best suggestions is that while the class is working on something tell them that you have 10 mins left....5 mins start getting ready to switch to ________(whatever the next activity is).....make sure you tell him specifically that he needs to start getting ready to switch. Hopefully this can make things a little easier. It might not be aspergers but it couldn't hurt to try this technique with and see if it make a difference.

Hope it helps some Smile

oldfatfarang · Joined: 19 May 2005 Location: On the road to somewhere.

I wouldn't think parental abuse right away with a kid that has bruises on his legs. He's most likely in Taekowndo and has been sparring. It's pretty easy to get your legs bruised up sparring. It also seems like a strange place to hit a child...on the legs.

Sorry to say, but both Korean teachers and parents beat their children on the leg muscles. Anyone who has taught here for a while sees these marks. Another 'love hit' is beating kids on the soles of their bare feet. If you see very quiet, chastened children hobbling, they have been beaten that way. Koreans also 'love hit' children on the palm of the hand with wooden rods, and hit kids on the head with their hands.

Without exception, all my students (all ages) tell me they are beaten by their parents. And in some schools - by their teachers. Some pparents 'love hit' for serious infractions like getting low-test scores and teachers 'love hit' for failing to do impossible homework workloads.

Koreans believe that if you love a child you have to love-hit them. How this transcribes into the situation where one of my student's naughty friends was literally beaten-up by a drunk Korean male teacher while on a field trip - is beyond me.

Another, perhaps interesting point about 'love-hitting' is, most Koreans will lie when you ask them if the kids are being beaten (loss of face - yours, theirs???).

For Westerners, this is outright abuse. For Koreans, it 'love'.

alabamaman · Joined: 25 Apr 2006

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

I agree remove him from the class ASAP. The other paying kids don't need that. The troubled kid, when you seem him in the hallway, give him special attention. "HEY BILLY! HOW ARE YOU!" The wang da outsider kid can sometimes really be turned around by having the foreign teacher just give him some friendly hall attention. "Teacher doesn't have a shtick with the other kids. I'm special." I've never tried it with a kid that forked up, mind you, but I've turned around some wang das.