By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
School textbooks contain descriptions and illustrations running counter to human rights, according to the National Human Rights Commission.
For example, a middle school textbook suggests, in regards to bullying by classmates, that bullied students need to determine why he or she became a target of bullying.
"It seems like bullied students have to blame themselves. The description may force them to think that being bullied is his or her own problems," one of the monitors said.
The case is among 60 examples of anti-human rights content in middle and high school textbooks disclosed by the commission, Thursday. The cases were found by 50 students who monitored textbooks. "The students mainly pointed out examples of sexual discrimination, stereotyped gender roles and disregard for juvenile culture. Many of the descriptions would be passed over by adults," a commission official said.
Another case, found in a high school ethics textbook, described teenagers' cultural activities as "not productive but consumptive." "The textbook describes teenage culture as if it is passive and dependent on popular culture. It ignores students' potential to develop creative culture," another member said.
On "Attire matching my social position," the monitors pointed out that suggesting that students should change their attire according to their "position as students" reflects the viewpoint of adults and ignores individuality.
Gender discrimination was also pointed out. In the illustrations of middle school physical education textbooks, boys are shown playing football, skiing and doing taekwondo, while girls are shown dancing.
Another textbook shows a woman wearing a fur coat as an example of extravagance without providing an example of a male exhibiting corresponding behavior.
The students also said that a middle school ethics textbook showed only girls engaged in volunteer activities.
Regarding a taekwondo-related illustration in which only Korean men appear, a student suggested foreign men and women be included to incorporate a more multicultural approach.
The students will give more opinions to the commission by the end of the year, and the commission will submit a recommendation for revision of the textbooks to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. It will select another group of students next February.