Korean Children (culture between east & west)

Date: 7/10/2008

Most of the Korean children attend private classes after school. Like in Taiwan, each kid would sign up to learn 3 or 4 different things, so they often have after-school programs/classes back to back. They even have to go to school every other Saturdays and during breaks. Some kids get really intense and seemed tired especially towards the end of the class because they are worries that they would be late for their next class. Unlike American children, most of them go to school, and after school curriculum is normally sports or some sort of activities. The difference, in my opinion, is because of the competitive Asian culture. Asian people do not like to loose face or be ashamed, so parents compare their kids with others and do not want to be left behind; at the same time, kids compare with each other as well. American parents, in the contrary, tell the kids to do well and give their best effort according to their abilities. In other words, Asian kids bear a lot more pressure to get good grades and to be better than their peers. American kids are more focused on finding the interest and the talent of the individual and do well in his/her own field of interest/study. I have to admit that I agree with the American culture a lot more because not everyone is good at studying. Each kid has his/her different interest, talent, and different ways of learning. Asian parents sometimes think a kid is “less” smart just because he/she doesn’t get good grades and/or feel ashamed because their kids didn’t go to a good college; it could really create a dent and a feeling of inferiority in the kids.

Couple friends and family have warned me about Korean guys being violent and controlling; they would even hit their women sometimes [I’m not sure how true that is, because so far most of the Korean men I know are pretty nice]; however, it reflects differently among children. A lot of Korean girls in my classes are very controlling and would bully the boys. I see often, the girls “beat up” the boys, and some boys would just take it and still be nice about it. Of there are exceptions, but in most cases, I see more little girls being violent and controlling towards the boys.