Another issue
Friday, February 8th, 2008Today I’d like to share something else that sometimes bothers me about the orphanage. Last time, I talked about the sanitation of the home. Thanks for your replies!
Living in Korea has certainly taught me to look at things with different eyes. So much of what goes on here is related to culture, and it is easy to draw conclusions about right or wrong. I am trying to figure out how to walk the line.
Today’s issue though is as much about culture as it is about staffing crunch at the orphanage. Social services isn’t a very glamorous job anywhere in the world, and I’m sure it is hard to find high-quality employees to care for the children at the orphanage. Ideally there would be 2 adults to watch the 22 elementary boys that I work closely with. However, this doesn’t always happen. If someone is sick, or unable to come in, often the kids are on their own. Then the 6th grade boys are in charge. I should say, that when they run the show, at least the younger kids eventually do their homework, shower, pick up their clothes, etc.. but it’s not always smooth. Sometimes they resort of rather strange enforcement measures! One day one 6th grade boy had a a spray bottle! He would tell a younger boy to do something, and then spray him like a dog when he wouldn’t do it right away!
Or sometimes the 10 preschool kids (birth - kindergarten) are left alone with 5th grade girl to watch them! Now, I know some 5th graders could handle that, but not many can. And the girl who gets that responsibility isn’t known for her tenderness!
Children in Korea have substantially more freedom than their American counterparts. Really young kids criss-cross the city on bus and subway to go back and forth from school to 학원 (tutoring centers) all day long. Groups of kids can be found in the busiest parts of the city with no adult chaperone in sight. I think this plays into what happens at the orphanage, and coupled with the staffing issues gives the kid a lot of independent alone time. That can be a good thing, but these kids who don’t have parents, or have very poor relationships with their parents desperately need adults to guide them! Those kids really are just raised by slightly older kids!
Posted by 오민 (Austin) in Austin's Orphanage |
February 10th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Hmm, another important issue… I think you’re probably right when you say that a lot of it comes down to simple budget numbers. I mean, for whatever reason, I suppose your children’s home isn’t high priority on some sort of social services budget list. And probably, if things just limp along as they’re going now without any major crises (or at least a crisis big enough to be splattered across the front page of a major newspaper), that’s probably not too likely to change.
It might be related to the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” While you or I might argue that it is broken, a lot of other people would say that things are fine the way they are. It’s hard to say if that disagreement would be cultural or simply financial. But, I’d imagine if a major news program did an in-depth program on your children’s home, there might be some changes.
Hard to say what kids of changes, or what would even prompt a news program/newspaper to feature such a story. But, there we are.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:22 am
I’m familiar with this kind of problem as well. I’m sure it’s not as common now as before, but when I was in middle school, I remember having to worry about some of the ’scary’ older students who wanted to play the role of the teachers, only punishment-wise
but it didn’t happen to me often - only once or twice - and most of them realized very soon that they had better things to do. Hehe. And after I started learning English, I would sometimes ask myself “What if there were no 존댓말(politeness level) in Korean? What if anyone could just talk to one another in plain 반말(casual politeness)? Would I still see the same kind of problems?”
What do you think?
February 12th, 2008 at 10:42 am
현우…. You bring up a great point. I’ve also thought that 존댓말 can create some of those expectations of authority. For me, it still feels weird to have a two sided conversation, with a student let’s say, where it is totally normal for me to “talk down” to them, and for them to respond politely. It feels sort of lopsided.
I think that foreigners aren’t taught well about the overwhelming common use of 반말 (in certain relationships). We are taught that to be polite we should end sentences with ~요 and that to not do so is “rude.” But it isn’t rude in the right context!
I’ve heard Koreans say that using 반말 is a way of elevating the intimacy of the relationship, so maybe some of the age based hierarchy wouldn’t exist if everyone spoke on friendly terms. Demanding that your juniors use 존댓말 is an easy way to reinforce your authority!