By All you English teachers out there may find this story of interest:
The parents of a four-year-old girl are accusing a British kindergarten teacher of having sexually molested her.
“The teacher sexually harassed my daughter by kissing her on the lips and touching her teeth with his finger. My daughter disliked it very much. Other teachers including the principal at the kindergarten know about his deviant behavior, they remained silent,’’ the father told The Korea Times. “It’s not an isolated case. Several other children also made similar complaints,’’ he added.
However, the British International Kindergarten denied the allegation claiming the parents were trying to slander the school. In response, the kindergarten’s lawyer sent a letter to the parents in June, demanding an apology by June 11, or it would sue the parents for defamation and interference in business. The lawyer has not taken any legal action as of yet. [Korea Times]
When it comes to initial reports about crimes by foreigners I tend to give the foreigner the benefit of the doubt at first but this guy appears to be guilty of at least bad judgment:
The school denies the allegations, saying it had reviewed all CCTV logs and clips. An assistant Korean teacher, the partner of the British teacher, said in a statement presented by the kindergarten that some children used to run competitively toward the male teacher and kissed him but she never saw the male teacher kissing the children.
However, the parents said that the 28-year-old teacher whose name was withheld for privacy, tricked children into kissing him. Another child’s mother also said she was disappointed with the kindergarten and kept her daughter from attending.
“My daughter said her teacher would be angry if she denied kissing him. I cannot understand how a teacher can educate a child that way. The kindergarten is advertising they hire only qualified teachers with degrees in education, but I doubt the information,’’ she said.
Maybe you English teachers can answer this, but is this normal behavior for the kids to try and kiss the foreign English teacher?
7:22 pm on July 10th, 2008 1
You can tell the parents are licking their chops. $$$$$$
7:35 pm on July 10th, 2008 2
I haven't taught Korean children in Korea since 2000, but from my experience, it was not unusual at all to have the youngest kids want to hug and even kiss you.
I remember a day clearly when a pre-school aged girl came up to my desk at a hakwon and wanted to kiss me on the cheek — I paused a few seconds and thought, "There is no way in hell I'd do this in the US……should I do it here???" and then let her kiss me on the cheek and hug my neck. A couple of other girls came up to hug my neck and/or kiss my cheek.
Generally, it didn't happen with every class, but I seem to remember that if one of them got the idea to do it and the others saw it — it became something some of them in the class would want to do occasionally from then on…
8:26 pm on July 10th, 2008 3
I know when I was in third grade, I kissed my teacher on her cheek and hugger her because she was an awesome teacher. I'm Korean and she's white.
I think the parents want drama in their lives. But who knows? Maybe it's true…? Or the kids are just lying through their teeth. Kids are good at lying.
1:29 pm on July 11th, 2008 4
[...] I found this article, when searching for something else. It might interest teachers in Korea. http://rokdrop.com/2008/07/11/british-english-teacher-accused-of-molesting-student/ [...]
9:04 pm on July 10th, 2008 5
"and then let her kiss me on the cheek and hug my neck."
USinKorea… you never fail to creep me out with stories of your teacher-student interactions.
What next?
"If you tell the big people about the kissing game, the Dokkaebi will kill your mommy and daddy."
1:23 am on July 11th, 2008 6
Young children are affectionate. Hugs are fine, but kissing is not, even on the cheek. Teachers need to demonstrate the boundaries. When a kindergartener whom I did not know ran up to hug me, her teacher stopped her and reminded her about not touching people we do not know. Children do like to imitate each other and try to outdo each other, so I can believe that one kid started the kissing routine and the others followed.
1:30 am on July 11th, 2008 7
I think everyone here is one the mark. It's not unbelievable that the kids would start wanting to kiss or hug a popular teacher. Even older kids will want to stroke your arm hair or even offer massages. A teacher with good judgment puts a stop to anything along those lines.
1:36 am on July 11th, 2008 8
When being farmed out by one hakwon to teach short lessons at an elementary school – where Korean teachers would pack in 3 or 4 classes into the room then head for coffee — I had a couple of 2nd or 3rd grade boys give me a couple of donggis — I forget the name — fingers up the @ss basially —- I much preferred the peck on the cheek — (clarification for chickenhead: the facial cheek.]
1:40 am on July 11th, 2008 9
I'd like to hear a Korean preschool or early elementary school teacher's thoughts on this one….
In contemporary American culture, we have a very certain way of looking at this.
The quotes from the family from the article would fit that picture to a T — but I'm not so sure Korean society is really that close to the US when it comes to such things.
If it is, it has changed a good bit from the late 1990s —
— anybody else remember how Koreans got pissed off that a Korean man was arrested in Atlanta during the Olympics for "just touching a boy child's hip!!!"
3:15 am on July 11th, 2008 10
"USinKorea… you never fail to creep me out with stories of your teacher-student interactions."
Yowch….
4:05 am on July 11th, 2008 11
Young children in many cultures explore the limits of relationships with teachers. They often imitate the most forward kids. They have ill-defined senses of truth and falsehood, especially when coached by worried parents or cops. After rereading the reports on demonic possession and witchcraft in 1690's Massachusetts and 1990's North Carolina and California, I would insist on high definition CCTV in every classroom and restroom, and I would have the principal or owner keep the tapes or disks (preferable-harder to fake). Kids are learning to control their environments — trust but verify, which means distrust and be damned careful.
4:38 am on July 11th, 2008 12
It sounds terrible, but our instinct is to automatically believe the child and that is not always correct. This could very well involve a whole lot of lying on the part of the child and/or the parents.
Kids can be very affectionate and push boundaries all the time. The boundaries are not as clear here. K teachers are for more affectionate with their students as they have more a 'familial' relationship, whereas in the West we are expected to behave in a seriously professional manner. It's quite easy to see where some confusion and potential problems can occur when the lines are so blurry. I will never teach children here again- I'm not into kiddy fiddlin', it's just that the potential for being accused is growing by the day!
I'm quite certain that the parents are looking to cash in on a nice settlement! $$$$$$$$$$$$$
6:08 am on July 11th, 2008 13
Like I said I never believe initial media reports but the school admits the teacher allowed students to kiss him. This is just me but I would never allow children to kiss me in the classroom if I was teaching. That is why I think the teacher is guilty of bad judgment especially if he allowed the students to kiss him repeatedly.
6:28 am on July 11th, 2008 14
Koreans are physically affectionate, but that does not extend to kissing, a personal and intimate act done between family members or couples. A home-based caregiver might kiss a child, but a preschool teacher would not. Those of you married to Korean women might ask their opinions.
10:16 am on July 11th, 2008 15
i dunno about teachers but tv presenters like kang ho dong do it all the time…
7:13 pm on July 11th, 2008 16
Yes, it is not uncommon for kids to do that. In fact, my first day on the job in Korea, my female Korean supervisor requested that I hug one of the students who was upset about something. It was awkward for me, but hell, it's their culture.
Another thing that is common is for pre-elementary school kids to stick their fingers up their teacher's butt or try to grab their teachers (male and female) genetalia/breasts. I actually had give a lesson to kindergarteners about the inappropriate behavior.
It seems to me like the teacher did nothing more than play with Korean kids in a way expected of Korean teachers. Many people are saying it was bad judgment, and I won't completely disagree, but such behavior may have been encouraged by or learned from the Korean staff. In the end, the fact that the teacher's Korean co-worker and school defended him, after reviewing the CCTV tapes, seems to be a strong indication that the teacher's behavior was in line with accepted Korean behavior in that context.
9:49 pm on July 11th, 2008 17
I taught kindy class before, and in my experience there was a lot of "mess with the teacher" attitudes, including the good, bad, and inappropriate senses of that.
I had small student who tried to grope me. I gave a VERY firm "No!" and after that I kept a close eye on her, and didn't give her a chance to get close for a second try.
I'm not sure exactly where the boundaries for contact lie in the US, but they are definitely less clearly marked here. I would advise teachers to err on the safe side, but there's not a lot of guidance in where those lines should be drawn. The only common rule I found in hagwons is "keep the students happy."
I would not be surprised if the adult hagwons would overlook any inappropriate behavior, despite the contract stipulations, provided re-enrollment rates were high.
12:22 am on July 12th, 2008 18
In view of the many sex scandal and pedophilia involving English teachers in Korea it is wise for english teachers to avoid any kind of dubious contacts with the kids. Koreans will mostly tend to see it as a sexual molestation.
Be defensive, gestures done by Korean teachers will be seen suspiciously when done by foreigners.
10:15 pm on July 12th, 2008 19
If the parents are sending their kids to a kindergarten with English teachers, they are most likely weathly. If you are wealthy, there is a bigger chance that they have been exposed to US/Western culture. I would have certainly been utterly shocked if the preschool teacher kissed my daughter or allowed my daughter to kiss him.
I don't rule out the possibility that the parents are just after money. Seeing commenters here, however, are readily jumping into suggesting it disgusts me a lot.
The problem of Korea and its law enforcement is that it is too forgiving to sexual offerders not the other way around. As a Korean father of 2 daughters, I support capital punishment for underage sex offeders and this is the only capital punishment I support. The sexual offeder noted in the article, if it is true that he allowed the kids to kiss him, deserves to die to me.
IF and only if this sort of thing happened to my kid, which freaks me out even just thinking of it, I would consider seeking more than Korean law allows and I am not talking about money. That will give a strong message to Korean society to fix the law and the culture. Now, the English teachers in Korea or any other county, think twice before you let the kid to kiss you. US beef is not only American product that is increasing its market share in Korea.
4:20 am on July 13th, 2008 20
Dr. Yu (#18)…. "the many" sex and pedophilia scandals involving English teachers in Korea? BS. I bet you can't even list 5 involving foreign teachers in Korea. But if you want to talk about Korean teachers a few minutes on Google should get you a few hundred examples of teachers raping or molesting their kids.
3:58 pm on March 28th, 2012 21
Um… just to explain, i thought english pplz who teach in Asia is like a nother way for English men to get asian women or young asian girls. No racial or no offence to English guys. I’m pretty tall for my age, ( im 13) and while is asia to visit my mom’s side of family, abunch of European guys said, ” Woo-Hoo” or ” Hey Big Girl” like i didn’t know english, then when i talked to my mom or family in my american ( usual lang) they backed off cuz they were like, ” Snap, she got an american lawyer”.