South Korea's school bullying has deadly consequences
By Jiyeon Lee, CNN
Seoul (CNN) - It took two teenage suicide cases due to school bullying last year in South Korea for people to notice something was very wrong.
The students lived in different cities and went to different schools, but both jumped to their deaths after saying they could not take the pain of being bullied any longer.
Over the last few weeks, the country's media has been filled with reports about tragic cases of school bullying. This week, two more students from the same class reportedly took their own lives - one was the victim of bullying, the other a powerless friend who had stood by and watched the abuse.
Experts say the cases highlight how desperately many South Korean teenagers need a means to escape the bullying as well as a way to cope.
Park Han-wool, a 17-year-old high-school student, said he has been bullied for the past six years. He has been isolated from other classmates, beaten during school trips and locked up in the classroom.
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Being the youngest for my grade and for quite some time, small for my age, until adolesence, I experienced sporadic 'bullying' throughout my grade school and early high school years. Fortunately, some of the time I had a few older friends in the grades above me, to administer their brand of justice to the bullies. Once I matured physically, it was no longer a problem for me. I learned that bullies pick on people weaker and smaller, and basically are cowards. The solution is for teachers to be observant, and to directly confront the pepretrators in a firm and decisive manner. Bullies are cowards and will readily back down when confronted.
public schools breed cruelty. This is not natural or healthy. Parents are too busy with careers or making dinner to model kindness and proper social skills, and teachers are too busy with lessons. That is why home education is such a resounding success. Look up the recent US Department of Education study (try HSLDA) all about how successful home education is for students of all kinds- secular, religious, and all different learning styles and interests. Only parents and caring mentors can rescue children from the cruelty and violence bred in neglect.
This isn't always true, because this has been reported in private schools as well? You mean to say all kids who come out of private schools are cruel? I would almost say this offensive to those of us who go public schools, as I am not cruel and none of my friends are, nor anyone that I know of. Unnatural, you say? How is it unnatural? Kids getting together to learn together? Couldn't I say that kids who stay at home with no interaction with other children is unnatural, that it makes them less ready for the world as it is? These kids aren't always gonna have mommy and daddy to hold their hands through life.
Actually, you could... if home-schooled kids really did have no interaction with peers,
but that's rarely the case. The main school lessons may be at home, but the vast majority of home schooled kids find their extracurricular activities elsewhere. They just have an easier time avoiding bullies because it's easier to find a different Sports club than it is to find a whole new school.
I'm in Korea, so I know about ths cases really detail. It's urgent to have a solution for is problem.