By Kim Da-hee
Korean parents send their children to private academies to prevent them from being bullied in class.
Reports said elementary schoolchildren learn oratory, acting and even magic tricks at the academies to improve their social skills.
“My son finds it hard to make friends with other children every time the new academic year begins,” said a mother, 42, of a boy in fourth grade at an elementary school. “After I heard a neighbor’s child received a ‘popularity award’ with his magic show in a school festival last year, I sent my son to a magic academy.”
Another parent said she sent her child to an oratory academy after she was shocked to see the child stammering during a school class.
A child’s relationship with classmates is the biggest concern when a new school term begins, according to a survey of 906 parents by Kinder Chocolate in February.
Some people point out the parents’ unnecessarily heavy dependence on private academy, saying it is rather bitter that parents send children to a private academy for personal education.
An elementary schoolteacher in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province, says she has noticed that children who are accustomed to parents doing everything for them find it hard to adjust in a new class, implying the negative effect of excessive private education.