Footage showing teacher beating student causes stir

[elprofesor]

By Kim Rahn

A video clip showing a female teacher at a middle school striking a pupil on the head and cheek has drawn criticism from Internet users.

The footage was posted on YouTube, Saturday, under the title, “A teacher’s violence against a middle school senior in Incheon.”

In the clip, the teacher hit the boy on the head and slapped him on the cheek dozens of times, while holding his ear, in a parking lot at the Everland theme park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

Students of the school said they were on a field trip Friday and she beat the student for being more than 20 minutes late.

They said they also saw her kicking the boy’s private parts.

The pupils shot the clip and posted it on the Internet.

A school official said the teacher visited the student’s home and apologized to his parents on Saturday.

The school and the district educational office said they are investigating the incident.

They said they will decide whether to punish the teacher depending on the outcome of the inquiry.

Many bloggers posted comments criticizing the teacher, saying the beating was not corporal punishment but amounted to assault.

It was a teacher in Incheon.

[S.Lee]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFqkF24l5tM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwRk3rpciB0

let the debate begin lol

[elprofesor]

guys this is a serious problem within Korea.  Using violence as a means for punishment.  Parents will call the MOE and literally complain about their child getting hit.  But I'm not sure if the government has the right policies enforced for teachers to lay justice on their students. 

It's not like giving the good ole chat will work with these Korean students. 
These kids do give the teachers a hard time as well.  So I'm not always on the students side.

These students will sometimes completely disrespect anything or anyone.

[thatguywho45]

Seriosuly Not a big Deal,..

The problem here is I feel, Parents arent Raising their children as they should be, Rather than spend your time working
non-stop having no time to check on your child and their needs, it wouldnt come to this, All schools Need this, Some countries are making it so the Teachers can get abused by the students and Teachers can Loose their jobs.

Now your all thinking that guy is "nuts" do I feel this teacher in this clip went over board a tad bit, But with all do respect its better to be feared then loved, I rather have this type of Co teacher then some poor sap that gets walked all over,, Clap Clap For the Ball Kicks, Nice MOve

[elprofesor]

did you know your middle school and high school students (as conservative as Korea is) are smoking (which is obvious) having sex, drinking (normal), and leaving home because they hate their families?

Does it ever occur that these Korean students have internal problems just like any other student around the world?

Look at the rate of broken/divorced/separated families in South Korea.  It's not a joke.

Most students are now creating in Korea of what they call "FAM" or families where these students leave home and start a group with other students and live together because they feel it's much better to leave home and stay with their "FAM" friends.

some female students who can't work will even go as low to put themselves into prostitution to make a living.  males will work some small delivery, etc...types of jobs. 

sometimes they'll just pickpocket stores etc...

did you know?

[woman-king]

Smart little guerilla journalist who filmed this and put it on Youtube. 
That said, removing corporal punishment from schools WITHOUT providing other means of discipline for teachers is a huge problem.  I explained to a co-teacher recently that where I'm from, the vice-principal's job at a middle school is basically to bring the heavy hand of discipline on children who are just out of control--and usually there's a security guard on staff, and a truancy officer making the rounds in a school district as well.  Korean teachers don't have that kind of needed support.

[Yu_Bumsuk]

The parking lot of Woobang Towerland in Daegu on Friday afternoon is always a lively place. Various schools on 'picnics' are waiting for latecomers to get to the buses so they can go home. When we went a few weeks ago I saw one of my coworkers give a student a swat with a big stick and thought, you know that's really not a very wise thing to do with every kid holding a camera.

[bigboy]

I see worse at my school on the daily...   it's no big deal.    Most of the time the students more then deserve it.

[Shinsegae]

first of all I'd like to point out that the "teacher" might not even be a teacher--you cant see his/her face. it could be a parent or another student for all anyone can reasonably be expected to tell from the video.

Secondly, anyone in my country, over a certain age, will tell you corporal punishment is great--it keeps the kids in line. how can teachers be expected to teach unruly children if they have no way of making them do what they're supposed to? 

Let's face it there are surely people out there who will go to far but as a parent, should my kids be smacked by teachers if they deserve it? YES. Also i'd like to see National Service introduced back home to combat problems cause by "ASBO" kids. There's a reason why Korea has such a low crime rate and i think this plays a big part

[Damien]

I think this is a major issue. Students at my school can get out of control. They are all high school girls from the ages of 16-19 and most of them have only 1 parent. I have only seen 26-27 parents at my school in 6 months and there are over 900 students. I try to think they are these sweet and innocent girls, but I know they are really not. I almost do not want to know Korea because of the things they say.

My friend translates things they say and I am almost shocked to hear them say it from some of the girls. I have a student that is always sweet and nice in my class. My friend told me what she was saying after school at the bus and I almost passed out. She was talking about her boyfriend's size and how big it was. Her friend then made a comment about her boyfriend's size. I then asked him to not continue translating and I would just pretend they are pure and innocent girls lol. The next day on the way to school I saw a few girls smoking and in glass I smelled weed on a girl. She was baked in the middle of my class.

[flasyb]

did you know your middle school and high school students (as conservative as Korea is) are smoking (which is obvious) having sex, drinking (normal), and leaving home because they hate their families?

Does it ever occur that these Korean students have internal problems just like any other student around the world?

Look at the rate of broken/divorced/separated families in South Korea.  It's not a joke.

Most students are not creating in Korea of what they call "FAM" or families where these students leave home and start a group with other students and live together because they feel it's much better to leave home and stay with their "FAM" friends.

some female students who can't work will even go as low to put themselves into prostitution to make a living.  males will work some small delivery, etc...types of jobs. 

sometimes they'll just pickpocket stores etc...

did you know?

Kids are the same the world over and so are social problems. I wasn't under the impression that Korea is the world's first perfect country or anything like that. Why wouldn't these problems exist? However, I do come from the country with one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in Europe so I don't think Korean kids are out of control just yet.

Seriosuly Not a big Deal,..

The problem here is I feel, Parents arent Raising their children as they should be, Rather than spend your time working
non-stop having no time to check on your child and their needs, it wouldnt come to this, All schools Need this, Some countries are making it so the Teachers can get abused by the students and Teachers can Loose their jobs.

Now your all thinking that guy is "nuts" do I feel this teacher in this clip went over board a tad bit, But with all do respect its better to be feared then loved, I rather have this type of Co teacher then some poor sap that gets walked all over,, Clap Clap For the Ball Kicks, Nice MOve

I'm not thinking "that guy is 'nuts'". I'm thinking *you're **due ***than x 2

I think I said this on a previous thread but I'll say it again. Teachers can have power in the classroom without hitting kids. Looking at those videos, the teacher seems more than a little vindictive. Was she hitting to discipline, or out of annoyance/anger with the student? There is a world of difference and I think it was the latter. The main problem with banning corporal punishment in Korea is that there is no adequate replacement disciplinary system. Parents don't support teachers with their actions outside of school as they see misbehaviour in school as an internal matter. It seems parents are trying to have it both ways now. Don't hit my kids but deal with them somehow without my support.

[elprofesor]

so my point is NETs.  Do NOT baby around your middle school or high school students.  They AREN'T the slightest innocent when they smoke, drink and have sex like other students from your country.

These kids are living as adults.  They act innocent and adorable.  Don't get sucked in.

They will take advantage of you QUICKLY.  and um..they're very crafty too.

[flukeriffic]

I have to say that I agree with the general consensus so far. My teachers do use corporal punishment, but when I say that, I mean that one of mine uses a ruler to slap students hands. The other one has a big plastic blow up hammer that she uses to bop students in the head. I have yet to see actual punishments that physically "hurt" the students and leave bruises, etc. It's more of just a way to scold them because yelling/saying that you're disappointed NEVER works. It's a way of life here, and until the schools come up with a better disciplining system, its the only thing that will work. Students here don't fear the VP/Principal's office like they do back home in the states. Just my two cents on the topic. Oh and I teach at a middle school by the way. I feel like middle school/high school teachers have it way worse with the discipline issues

[elprofesor]

family and ethical values are down the tank here in Korea. 

These students AREN'T street smart and yes, THEY DON'T KNOW better.

they have NO NOTION of what they are doing.

Personally for me.  media is also to blame.

[elprofesor]

oh yeah your students are watching PORN like CRAZY.  thought you'd like to know. Korea has the number one rate in the world when it comes to porn watching...I think from the last stats...

[S.Lee]

oh yeah your students are watching PORN like CRAZY.  thought you'd like to know. Korea has the number one rate in the world when it comes to porn watching...I think from the last stats...

at 1Gbps next year lol

[Wretchard]

I think it is just the way it goes here in Korea. 'Violence' is more common and accepted (not that this particular incident is overly violent).

My co-teacher, who is one of the most open-minded and intelligent people I've met since coming here, once said to me "Sometimes kids just have to fight."

I told her that in Canada we have these cliches like "Violence never solves anything" and she said "Sure it does. Sometimes it is the only way to solve something."

I'm sure she isn't the only Korean with this point of view so that incident at Everland probably won't be a big deal here, besides a story to get some ratings on the news.

[cbanks]

It's only my first day teaching in korea, but during my orientation we watched some pretty shocking videos of teachers beating their students. I hope I never have to witness anything like that but any advice on how to handle this situation as a GET if it arises??

[mistee]

The footage made me cringe - while I can understand that corporal punishment is more common and accepted in Korea than in some western countries, this went above and beyond disciplining a child, and straight into abuse. Kicking someone where it hurts? Really??!! I'm not anti-corporal punishment, in fact I think it CAN be used effectively, when done the right way (a poster mentioned one of her co-teachers having a huge plastic hammer they use to bop kids, my co-teacher also has one, and it works. It doesn't hurt, it gets their attention, and it's more to express disappointment as opposed to inflicting any kind of physical pain.) What this teacher did was wrong, and she obviously knew it, since according to the Korea Times article, she went to the student's house and apologized to the student's parents.

And being innocent or corrupt in anyone's opinion doesn't rationalize this type of behavior, period.

[dauphinalbert]

family and ethical values are down the tank here in Korea.

These students AREN'T street smart and yes, THEY DON'T KNOW better.

they have NO NOTION of what they are doing.

Now, where aren't ethical values down the tank? I wanna move to That country!
how is street's smart to be relevant here?
what students "know better". After all, they are students otherwise they would be profesores, no?
I don't have a clue what I'm doing 50% of the time. I think.

As to the video:
the first video looks brutal. However it is most likely due to the camera angle since the second one looks justifiable if corporal punishment is allowed.