Top educator in Busan backs corporal punishment

By Kang Shin-who

BUSAN — A campaign to ban corporal punishment at schools is gaining support in the Seoul area, but the top educator in the southeastern port city of Busan thinks differently.

Unlike schools in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province that are revising rules to prevent teachers from physically disciplining students, schools here will keep them intact, allowing corporal punishment for educational purposes.

“Banning corporal punishment abruptly means teachers will be stripped of tools to control unruly students. I think we still need the ‘love of rod’ in classroom,” said Lim Hea-kyung, superintendent of the Busan Metropolitan City of Education, in an interview with The Korea Times.

“Children sometimes do wrong and are smacked, that’s the way they grow up.”

The life-long educator said a complete ban on corporal punishment should be introduced after other alternative and more efficient methods of discipline are instituted.

“Teachers face a moment when they have to physically discipline students. I think it’s too early to completely ban corporal punishment,” she added.

The first female superintendent, elected by citizens, also expressed concerns over alternative programs designed to replace physical punishment, such as community service.

“I disagree with the idea of pushing problematic students to perform community services that should be done with a volunteer mindset,” she said.

But the top educator made it clear that teachers should not insult students when they give them any form of physical punishment.

Under the current Education Law, teachers are supposed to refrain from physically punishing pupils but it leaves room for “exceptional cases for educational purposes.”

On students’ rights to choose hairstyle and clothing, Lim is quite flexible, saying students need to be given more freedom.

But she was firm that teachers should not let students sleep during class.

Many students who study late into the night at private cram schools or hagwon tend to fall asleep during classes at school.

Lim said the education office will order schools to take steps to wake sleeping students in classrooms and help them perform better academically.

She stressed that parents, students and teachers should all change in order to reduce private education costs.

“Parents should know hagwon don’t help their children that much and realize it is a waste of money. I will ask parents not to be anxious about their children and just wait for changes in our schools,” she said.

“I will ask each school’s principal to keep all students awake. Sleeping students will be removed from classrooms.”

She said teachers should be more competitive among other things.

“They should be ready for evaluations at any time and keep studying to enable them to teach better.”

부산 교육감, ‘교육적 체벌’ 옹호

정부가 체벌금지 법제화를 추진하고 있는 가운데, 임혜경 부산시 교육감은 “교육적 체벌”은 필요하다는 입장을 밝혔다. 임 교육감은 코리아타임스와의 인터뷰에서 체벌의 필요성을 강조했다. 그는 “학부모들에게 ‘아이 안 때리고 키우나?’ ‘안 맞은 아이가 잘되는가?’ 라고 묻고 싶다” 며 “아이들은 잘못도 하고 맞기도 하면서 크는 거” 라고 말했다.

이어 “물론 교사가 학생들에게 인격적 모욕을 줘서는 안되지만 교육과정중에서 어쩔 수 없이 학생을 때려야 할 때가 있다”고 말했다.

체벌대체 프로그램에 대해서는 부정적인 견해도 드러냈다. 특히 사회봉사활동과 관련, “봉사는 칭찬 받아야 할 일인데, 벌을 대신해서 사회봉사를 하는 것은 바람직하지 못하다” 고 말했다.

현행 교육법 시행령에는 ‘교육상 불가피한 경우를 제외하고는 학생에게 신체적 고통을 가하지 않는 훈육, 훈계들의 방법으로 행해야 한다’ 고 되어 있어 체벌의 여지를 두고 있다. 하지만 교육과학기술부는 체벌을 전면적으로 금지하기 위해 법 개정을 현재 추진 중이다.