REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Government research into corporal punishment at middle and high schools showed a decline in prevalence, with 6% experiencing it in 2006 compared with 40% in a similar survey by the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union in 2000. The research surveyed 1,160 students at 40 schools, 533 parents and 262 teachers. When asked if teachers listened to the student’s side of the story before giving the punishment, 89% of teachers said “yes” while 88% of students and 92% of parents answered “no”. Corporal punishment is given when students do not obey school rules, e.g. not finishing homework or being late or absent from class.

(Reported in The Korea Herald, 26 January 2007)

Large scale comparative research into the views and experiences of 3,322 children and 1,000 adults in 8 countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific (Cambodia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mongolia, Philippines, Republic of Korea and Viet Nam) was carried out by Save the Children in 2005. The research in Republic of Korea involved 152 children (69 boys, 83 girls) from urban areas and 175 adults (32 men and 143 women). Methods used included research diaries, drawings, body maps, attitude survey, sentence completion, and discussions. Physical punishments mentioned by children in the Republic of Korea included slapping, whipping, beating with a broomstick, punching, kicking, pinching, and ear pulling. The research found that 97.4% of children experienced physical punishment in the home, and 3% emotional punishment; in school 93.6% experienced physical punishment and 6% emotional punishment. Punishment in the home comprised 61% of all punishments, followed by school, then after-school learning centres, playgrounds, and other locations (street, friends’ houses, welfare centres). Punishment is most commonly inflicted by parents (45%), teachers (24%) and other relatives (20%). In response to the statement “After I punish a child I feel unhappy”, 16.6% of adults disagreed, 65.1% agreed, and 18.3% had no opinion.

(Beazley, H., S. Bessell, et al., 2006, What Children Say: Results of comparative research on the physical and emotional punishment of children in Southeast Asia and Pacific, 2005, Stockholm, Save the Children Sweden)

In a nationwide survey of 3,228 students conducted by the Korean Federation of Teachers Association in April 2003, 70% said that corporal punishment given by their teachers was fair but that it should be limited to severe cases of insubordination. Students said teachers should not abuse the right to punish students.

(Reported in Hae-noon, K., 2003, "Students cite slip in respect for teachers", Joong Ang Daily, Seoul, 14 May 2003)

A questionnaire survey of 489 children in grades 4-6 in Korea in autumn 1998 looked at personal opinion on corporal punishment and experience of violence by family members, school teachers or peers in the last year. The rate of corporal punishment by teachers was 62%, while the rate of violence in the family was 68.9%.

(Kim, D-H., Kim, K-I. & Park, Y-C., 2000, "Children's experience of violence in China and Korea: A transcultural study", Child Abuse & Neglect, vol.24, no.9, pp.1163-1173)