From: wjin@cs.uh.edu (W. Woody Jin)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.korean
Subject: Re: Beating, seriously speaking.
Date: 7 Jan 1993 08:51:04 GMT
Organization: University of Houston
NNTP-Posting-Host: rodin.cs.uh.edu

In article <1993Jan7.033056.8267@news.acns.nwu.edu> phantom@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (James Choi) writes:
>I would not be surprised if there is a reliable evidence that Korean men
>indeed find their fist handy.  Just think about how they are raised.
>
>Consider high school settings.  If you get into an argument with your
> .... descriptions about high-school education in mid 70's.....
> ....
>scenes would end in beating.

I was also in high school from early to mid 70's.  But I feel that
your description is a little bit more exaggerated (maybe different
from school to school and teacher to teacher).


>For the same reason, I have mixed feelings about teens talking back.  While
>I was tutoring, I had plenty of those talking back to me.  I am happy to
>say that I convinced most of them (I quit on "the rest") to do what I want
>them to do by reasoning, not by force.

It is mostly "the rest" who are beaten, since the teachers think that
such students lack reasoning and they show too much enthusiasm to corret
those students by beating.  They call it, "Beating of Love"
I don't want to discuss the validity of "SarangEui Mae", which I'll leave it
to education majors.  But according to my wife who had been teaching in
a high school for 5 years,  beating is almost gone now.

>Going back to the original issue.  What do you expect from those who grew
>up where fist was stronger than reasoning?  This style of life is further
>extended to the "mandatory" army life.  

I served the mandatory army for 2yr and 3 months and was beaten there ( 8-( ).
But I don't agree that army was the place where fist was stronger than 
reasoning (rather it is a special place where bullet is stronger than
reasoning  8-) ).  I strongly oppose that high school was such place.

>What would you expect?  I would
>expect two breeds.  One who learned the lessons and others who hated the
>system intensely.  And, of course, there will be plenty of exceptions.

Most valuable thing that I learned through skin in military service was that
I was not the only human-being who is afraid of being dead and being beaten,
that I was not the only one who wants to be free,
that I was the same human-being just like others regardless of educational
status,  that I was not the only one who feels in that way.

I have known many people who beated others and were beaten in military but
never used their fists afterwards.  I would say that Korean Army is a
special group where you have to do anything by order, of which the
purpose should be eventually for the peace of Korea.
I would not believe that soldiers who killed enimies in the battle will 
kill other people after they retire.

I don't support beating in the army. I just hope the situation be getting
better (and I heard that it is).

>But it is true that children imitate what they see.  They are only doing
>upon the others what was done upon them through out their tender years.
>
>Sad.

Children may imitate (in fact, my kid doesn't imitate if she doesn't THINK
what she sees is right), but when they grow up and have abilities 
of good reasoning, they will throw out what they imitated wrong.
Nobody remains as child.  
And when you graduate from high school or retire from military service, 
you are no longer such a child who imitates bad things.

So, be glad ( 8-) ).


-- 
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|  |   |  |  |  |  W. Woody Jin (wjin@cs.uh.edu)       (o o)      Moo.... 
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