Memories: Teacher recalls own school canings

Posted by Traditional School Discipline June 26, 2022

Memories: Teacher recalls own school canings

Park Chang-bok who has been a teacher for almost three decades shares memories of his own corporal punishment at school with readers of the Korea Times in May 2021.

I've been a schoolteacher for almost three decades but I sometimes find myself looking back at the days when I was a student.

My memories are mainly about corporal punishment. At that time, it was common to be hit by teachers. But sometimes, we were beaten for little or no reason. I have a very clear memory that I was severely hit on the butt with a club because I didn't bring a frog to be used in a science class. I had an excuse, but it was ignored.

I can remember the angry face of the teacher beating me. Was it so wrong or bad? It was an uncontrolled explosion of feeling and an abuse of educational authority. I don't think all teachers were wrong, but some of them were not qualified to be teachers.

I also have a good memory related to corporal punishment. There was a time when I was hit by a teacher, but I never hated or cursed him because I could feel his care and love toward me in the stick he used. It was good medicine to correct my bad habits and to make my weak will stronger. I have respecting him as my mentor to this day. But it is true that many students suffered from improper corporal punishments in those days.

What does school look like now? It is dramatically different from my schooldays. Corporal punishment was banned a few years ago and how has that impacted schools? I think we have more serious problems as a result. Students don't follow teacher's instructions, even the simplest of directions. So, classrooms have become a mess. Students know well that teachers have no power to control them beyond scolding them verbally.

Some students will insist on their innocence, though they are in the wrong. To make matters worse, some use harsh words, spit and even attack teachers. Teachers who dare rebuke their students can face the wrath of parents. Who can act according to their convictions in such a situation?

Most teachers have become cowards, pretending not to notice any rudeness from students or other faults. It seems that they have lost their dignity and courage as teachers. How dare they pretend to be their students' mentors? Isn't it so natural that they should be despised or mocked by the students? Poor teachers.

Do we delude ourselves into false beliefs? In training, carrots and whips are common methods. We have used them in education for a long time but we deserted whips believing, ''praise can make whales dance." Whips disappeared from the education scene. Can we handle students with only carrots?

However, over-issued carrots, praise or prizes eventually lose their value. In addition, students who keep getting praise or prizes can become not just confident but arrogant, like a rude grandson pulling out the beard of his grandfather. Sticking to only praise is not a panacea.

Let's think about the words, “reviewing the old and learning the new.” In the old days, we had some great mothers who used a “whoechori,” a kind of whip, to correct their rude children and the whoechori was also used for teaching by “hunjang,” a teacher in Joseon Kingdom. The whips were the very stick of love, care and encouragement. Pruning a tree is never an expression of anger or hate, but love and care for the tree. Education without a whoechori, a stick of love, is like an arduous effort to draw a cart of education with only one wheel. It is also like driving a car without brakes.

It is time to make our education run well again by once again providing that missing wheel and those brakes. Where is the growth and happiness without pain?

The writer is an English teacher at Suncheon Girls Middle School in South Jeolla Province.