Thursday 9 February 2012. Graduation day. I've never seen so many excited students before. Excited to be leaving middle school and excited to be starting high school in less than a month. The excitement however, is not shared by everyone. My Korean co-workers smile and courteously accept bouquets of flowers from proud parents and thankful students, but deep inside they worry about the the safety and security of those graduating.
While I was allowed to leave school at 12.30 I could not understand why my co-workers had to stay so I asked my co-teacher and she replied: "Well, most students are very happy about graduating so they go out and celebrate. Some even consume alcohol and get drunk so we have to watch them. However, there are also others who might feel disappointed and angry at themselves for not doing as well as they should have or because they couldn't get into a good high school. So they might start a fight or even do something terrible". I noted that she avoided mentioning anything about suicide, death or killing.
In a recent study (2010) suicide was the number one cause of deaths among people under 40 in Korea. Korea was in a similar situation in 2009, 2008 and 2007. Far too many of these suicides involve middle or high school students who decide to end their lives for more-or-less the same reasons: not getting the perfect grade, not getting into the best high school/University or being abused/ bullied by peers. In 2010 one in ten students between the ages of 15 - 19 had thought about suicide.
Bullying was what caused a Daegu middle schooler to end his life last December. He was only 13. Tragic case. Since then middle and high schools have been on high alert which I guess explains why teachers are taking those extra steps to ensure students' safetly.
Anyway, back to my point. My co-workers have to work in teams of 4 or 5 and spend 2-3 hours walking or driving around the suburbs in our school's area looking out for (our) students who may be loitering around or getting up to mischief. For the life of me I don't understand how this would help. I think it's nonsense. Firstly without a uniform on, it's really hard to identify which students are ours and which aren't. Secondly, if I were a student and wanted to drink, smoke or get into trouble I wouldn't do it on the side of street where everyone can see.
BUT clearly these teachers have seen a need to do this. The suicide made international headlines and sent the education department into a frenzy. Not only have schools been commissioned to 'keep an eye' on students but they also have a social duty to ensure their safety. Why? Because every time a student commits suicide, bullies or engages in violent activities, it's the teachers who get the blame from the parents. I laughed at my co-teacher when she told me this. The parents of the 13-year old deceased victim were planning to file a law suit against the school for negligence. Legally, one of the basic elements of negligence is proving that a duty of care existed. Of course schools have a duty of care toward students. In an elementary class for example a teacher would ensure that the kids interact with each other in a manner that is not harmful. A teacher would also station him/herself on the school playground during intervals controlling over-eager students and preventing the kids from engaging in dangerous behaviour. In middle and high school however, you expect students to know how to handle a pair of scissors or not to beat each other to a pulp, so the duty of care is somewhat relaxed. Bullying, although clearly visible in the younger years, is often harder to spot as the students get older.
I don't have a problem with any parent who's upset or grieving about something that may have happened to their kid. My issue is that teachers should not be blamed for every single bad thing that happens to students. A teacher's liability is not unlimited. I think to a large extent parents need to step up to the parent plate. The reason the 13 year old boy was bullied so much was because his parents were both high school teachers and got home after 10pm every night. The boy was alone from 4 to 10 which was when all the after-school bullying occurred. (Some of the bullying at his house and PC rooms).
Granted, some things I said are generalizations. Not all parents are unavailable and not all parents blame teachers for mishaps. But when things like that do happen, teachers are the easiest scapegoats.
This is clearly a rant post owing to my co-workers spending a lovely FREEZING afternoon walking the streets of Sa-dong in an effort to keep the peace. A high school teacher once told me that teaching is the noblest profession and in this case I will have to agree. Putting students well-being ahead of yours is an amazing deed and should be appreciated. I guess that's where most of us are today because of teachers who were willing to put our lives ahead of theirs.
On that note, congratulations to all those who graduated today and this week! Hope you have a bright future ahead of you and high 5 to all the awesome, hard-working teachers out there!
