Smack my b**** up.

Korean elementary school children hit each other at every opportunity. Do American kids do this? More importantly, do American schools allow that kind of thing to go down? I seem to recall hitting one another being a big deal. I remember getting pushed once, starting to cry, and having to attend the principals office with my assailant. All I did was get pushed. Korean kids are violently hitting each other in multiple-blow spurts.

Also, it's not just boys on boys. Actually, if there's hitting happening, it's probably a girl acosting a boy. Open hand, balled fist; it all flys here in full view of myself and other teachers. At first I was taken aback, but now I hardly even notice. In fact, I think it's kind of funny. I can't imagine how therapeutic it must be for US teachers to come here and lounge around as violent chaos ensues. I imagine teachers have to do a lot less 'emotional' work here than they do in the states.

Teachers here draw the line at disturbing the classroom process. It's ok to scream and flail in the hallway between classes, just as long as you don't expect to do so during class. Children who interrupt teaching time are dealt with swiftly. Obviously there are pluses and minuses to this approach. On one hand, you could say that allowing the kids this freedom will help them to naturally discover themselves and the way social interactions work out. On the other hand, elementary age children are terribly mean to each other, and sometimes you need a supervisor to intervene, regardless of whether it's class time or not.

There's one girl in the 5th grade who is overweight and gets teased mercilessly. I've always observed the Koreans are up front about physical observations, but this crosses the line. I routinely hear this girl being referred to as pig. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard another student call her by her given name. This bothers me immensely. There's one boy who is particularly bad, and I want so badly to bring him outside and scream at him. But there are three problems with that scenario.

1. He wouldn't understand me
2. She might be embarrassed
3. My co teacher would probably see it as totally unnecessary.

I badly want my co teacher to discipline him. I'm even considering raising it with her in private. My feeling is that in a touchy-feely place like the US, this poor girl would've gone home, told her parents, and there would have been a meladramatic parent-teacher meeting. While I've always been wary of over-reactionary American parents, this girl needs just that. She needs a socially acceptable intervening force. I wish it could be me, but I don't know how.

I'm all for self-policing. I always liked when my mother told my sister and I, "You two figure it out yourselves!" Even at a young age, I remember admiring that type of laissez faire attitude towards parenting. That said, sometimes that meant I would end up being too mean to my dear sister. I bet she wished that my mom had stayed in. But when do you play, and when do you sit it out?