Student Beating

"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." -Burke


One of my co-teachers smacked a student around and I don't know how to feel. I went to the teacher's office after teaching my lesson to the 8th graders. I walk in the room and one of the other teachers is yelling at a student next to my desk. So I sit down and the kid is maybe two feet away from me when suddenly the teacher jumps up and gives the kid an open handed smack hard. He smacked him again this time using his left hand and then again using his right. The entire time he's yelling and screaming. He alternated hands slapping him in the face for five blows. He then started punching him in the forehead hard. While this is going on, I am looking around at the other teachers for a reaction. Most are pretending not to notice but a few were actually smirking. So I'm seeing this and I'm getting hot wondering if I should stop him. My every instinct is saying don't get involve with the locals it can only end badly and if I would have gotten up and stopped him the Korean would have reacted forcefully to save face, and then I would have beaten the brakes off of him. On the other hand I hate a bully in any manifestation and striking a child in the face that you know would never hit you back is the clearest case of bullying I could imagine. So I take one look over at the smirking vice principal and I decided to leave the room. I couldn't help the boy and the only thing worse than being beaten is having it done in front of a foreigner.



Now for the rest of my life I'll have to wonder if I made the right decision. I truly only regret three things in my life and they all revolve around me failing to do the right thing. But had I acted, well let us just say that I know how that story ends also. I strike a Korean I get arrested and jailed until I pay a huge fine to the Korean guy and then with the little money I have left I get sent back to America. Plus I only teach two days per week at this school and this teacher is always involved with disciplining some boys. There is no telling what he does when I am not there. Maybe I am just rationalizing and justifying my cowardice in the face of injustice. I guess I'll have a lifetime to think about it. Thanks Korea

P.S.
Guess what subject the teacher in the story taught. It should be fairly obvious to anyone who went to school in America. The first prize is a Korean trinket I picked up in Seoul.