This morning I was told that the problem student I mentioned two postings ago has been expelled from our school. Evidently there is no where else for her to go, so she will likely roam the neighborhood and cause more trouble. It's not that this country lacks the resources to handle such cases, but the knowledge and the will. It appears from the outside to be a case of "we've always done it this way," an attitude that is poison to any large organization. I agree that when a single student requires this much of the school's attention a change needs to be made, but merely turning a "wild" student loose into society seems like not the best solution either. There needs to be an in-between solution somewhere.

As if that weren't enough, immediately after the class where I was given this information, I was on my way back to my desk when I started down the main stairs just in time to see a teacher thwap a girl on the head with a thin stick. It was the same teacher I had seen hit a student last week. He backed the girl into a corner, reared back and hit her again as the girl cowered and tried to protect herself with her hands. This time I shouted out, "Hey!" completely spontaneously, the way I would had I come upon one student bullying another. My protest failed to even register with the teacher however. I briefly considered getting into the situation, but fearing an escalation finally walked away, throwing the papers in my hand aside in disgust. The teacher saw me pass. This all happened in a split second.

I felt powerless and frustrated as I walked back to my desk. I'm an outsider, and must do a considerable amount of biting my tongue. It's a different culture and it's not my job to tell Koreans how to discipline their children. On the other hand, what I've seen this teacher do is not discipline in my view, but child abuse.

It's not just about the students either. I happen to really like the teacher in question. I'd hate for him to be caught in the act of losing his temper by a student's camera phone and possibly lose his job.

At lunch today the teacher in question sat directly across from me, which freaked me out more than a little. He began talking in Korean to the Korean English teacher to my right, whom I had spoken about the situation with, but hadn't named any names. As he spoke he made gestures towards me, and the few words I understood seemed to suggest he was talking about what I had witnessed earlier. The English teacher also didn't explain what they were talking about, which was unusual. After quite some time had passed she finally offered awkwardly, "we are talking about the best places to see the cherry blossoms."

"I see," was my only response.

After lunch, the teacher tarried outside the lunch hall and seemed to want to spend a moment with me. He just asked how I was doing, and I told him how I had succumbed to temptation and smoked a cigarette, my first since January, and only my fourth since I quit smoking regularly last August. Our conversation was friendly and easy, though I was uncomfortable and really didn't want to talk to him. I made my excuses and came back to my desk to finish my lunch break.

I suppose I'll have to leave it like that. At least I've made someone aware of the situation. Though he's definitely crossing the line I guess he's not truly causing serious injury to these students. The next time I see something though, it will be harder to just walk away.

Labels: life in Korea, The life of Brian