I'm going to go ahead and "like" this article because it is informative, not because it is a happy, likeable topic. Don't let 할머니 get out her 'switch' while you and your daughter are visiting Korea. 😉
I could not bear to bring myself to hit "like" but the story was much appreciated. Back in the late 1980s I taught dance in a public elementary school in Memphis TN. The first week in the classroom, I discovered a broken ruler on top of the piano. Didn't think much of it. Then one day I picked it up and with it in my hand I walked past a few students as we were practicing, and I noticed them visibly cringe and back away. That day, may be the only time in my life when I saw what may have been the effects of a past teacher's disciplinary tactic; I was taken aback. I only have good memories of going to public elementary school in New York City back in the 50s & early 60s. I never saw a student hit or inappropriately touched. Our PE classes were filled with joy and music and folk dancing and 'farmer in the dell' & 'duck duck goose', and running games and circle sports. It is heart breaking to read the stories you have written about here. How much of that disciplinary violence leaked backed into children's home lives?
To answer your question in the last sentence, I truly don't know. I'm sure it did affect some. But in the bigger picture, violence by the superior against the meek was generally accepted in the 70s because of the draconian government policies and actions. I'll someday write about it -- about the Park Chung-hee administration, which is very important in understanding how the modern SK society came to be.
I’ve asked my dad before (he’s in his early 50s) if teachers would punish physically and he said they did. That was a long time ago that I asked him. Outside of school, it was common that if he misbehaved his grandma would tell him to go get a “switch”…
Oops, I just liked it before I read the comments…
Haha... I know what you meant to do.
It's okay though -- we all survived. There are a lot worse things in life.
thankfully (hopefully) a bygone era
It is. And zero "Likes" for this content sounds appropriate.
I'm going to go ahead and "like" this article because it is informative, not because it is a happy, likeable topic. Don't let 할머니 get out her 'switch' while you and your daughter are visiting Korea. 😉
I could not bear to bring myself to hit "like" but the story was much appreciated. Back in the late 1980s I taught dance in a public elementary school in Memphis TN. The first week in the classroom, I discovered a broken ruler on top of the piano. Didn't think much of it. Then one day I picked it up and with it in my hand I walked past a few students as we were practicing, and I noticed them visibly cringe and back away. That day, may be the only time in my life when I saw what may have been the effects of a past teacher's disciplinary tactic; I was taken aback. I only have good memories of going to public elementary school in New York City back in the 50s & early 60s. I never saw a student hit or inappropriately touched. Our PE classes were filled with joy and music and folk dancing and 'farmer in the dell' & 'duck duck goose', and running games and circle sports. It is heart breaking to read the stories you have written about here. How much of that disciplinary violence leaked backed into children's home lives?
To answer your question in the last sentence, I truly don't know. I'm sure it did affect some. But in the bigger picture, violence by the superior against the meek was generally accepted in the 70s because of the draconian government policies and actions. I'll someday write about it -- about the Park Chung-hee administration, which is very important in understanding how the modern SK society came to be.
I’ve asked my dad before (he’s in his early 50s) if teachers would punish physically and he said they did. That was a long time ago that I asked him. Outside of school, it was common that if he misbehaved his grandma would tell him to go get a “switch”…