A Bully
In North America girl bullying is on the rise. One young lady I know had an absolutely miserable childhood because of it.
I am unfortunate to have in one of my classes a bully. Basically, Hai-Song is eleven, and is jealous of So-Hee, who is only nine, because So Hee speaks better English than she does. Also, on some occasion So-Hee didn't call her older fellow student "onni" ("older sister," a term of respect), and so Hai-Song got angry about it. I pointed out to Hai-Song that in the English classroom we shouldn't be addressing each other in Korean anyways, unless absolutely necessary. "Onni" isn't necessary. In the English classroom, cow-towing to someone who is two years older than you simply because they are two years older is inappropriate. Yesterday after class Hai-Song rounded up the other three girls in the class, and they all complained to So-Hee's mother. I complained to the office--and received assurances that the girls will be split in the next term's class, which starts in two weeks. I have to admit that the tension between these tiny little girls--among other things--kept me awake for more than two hours last night. Hai-Song is clearly a loser--after all, on the first day she had to tell me how Japanese people were bad because of a conflict fifty years ago fought between a generation of people who are mostly dead now.
I am unfortunate to have in one of my classes a bully. Basically, Hai-Song is eleven, and is jealous of So-Hee, who is only nine, because So Hee speaks better English than she does. Also, on some occasion So-Hee didn't call her older fellow student "onni" ("older sister," a term of respect), and so Hai-Song got angry about it. I pointed out to Hai-Song that in the English classroom we shouldn't be addressing each other in Korean anyways, unless absolutely necessary. "Onni" isn't necessary. In the English classroom, cow-towing to someone who is two years older than you simply because they are two years older is inappropriate. Yesterday after class Hai-Song rounded up the other three girls in the class, and they all complained to So-Hee's mother. I complained to the office--and received assurances that the girls will be split in the next term's class, which starts in two weeks. I have to admit that the tension between these tiny little girls--among other things--kept me awake for more than two hours last night. Hai-Song is clearly a loser--after all, on the first day she had to tell me how Japanese people were bad because of a conflict fifty years ago fought between a generation of people who are mostly dead now.
2 Comments:
I remember teaching a young 17 year old girl in Seoul. I told her that I had been recently living in Japan and that I really liked living and working in Japan.
She told me that she hated the Japanese.
I asked here why. She told me that her Grandmother had told her horrible things about what the Japanese people had done to Koreans.
I then asked if she had ever met or knew any Japanese people and she said no.
I was surprised at the hatred expressed towards the japanese and at such a young age.
Thanks for your comment, Fred.
What happened to Korea during WWII and before was truly despicable, but at some point the nation has got to move on. We're in a totally new world now, or we ought to be, at any rate.
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