Life Without Love is Prison

One of the priests of the diocese writing for the Pastoral Newsletter had a short reflection on prison life. He mentioned his visit with a woman who was in jail over some money problems. She was a very active member of the parish and he spent some time with her in a visit to the jail. He has never forgotten what she said to him on that occasion.

“Before I came to the jail, when I heard the word jail, the first thought that came to mind, a high wall, prison bars, guards who would be watching the prisoners. Finding myself in this situation, more than these problems is to be in a room with people that I hate and having to live with them. I have to hear the bickering of others, and at the same time inflicting punishment on others. Having to live with people I dislike, rub up with them in daily contact, sleep in the same room, this is repulsive and most difficult. "

Someone in that situation has no time to take a break, no respite from the oppressive atmosphere.

A professor who was in prison for political reasons mentioned something similar. He expressed it by saying usually the poor prefer summer over winter but for us in prison we prefer winter. Although there are many different reasons to value the summer, having to live in close contact with others the 'hate' makes all the difference in choosing the winter. In summer that close contact is living close to a fire all day long. The heat and also living so close with the other you dislike and are disliked is hard to accept. Having to conquer the cold by living closely with someone you hate is a penalty to beat all penalties. To hate the ones who are close to you and be hated in turn is a great misery.

The conclusion of the article was that in our daily lives we have to live with people we like or dislike. If we bicker fight and hate one another like prison, it will be a difficult.

Love, like the light of the sun gives us brightness and vitality, hate brings darkness into our hearts, body and brings sickness. Life without love can not bring happiness.

The aspect of living with people so closely you hate and are hated in turn, never entered my mind as one of the problems of prison life but it does not seem difficult to imagine. Probably the lack of space in the Korean Penal System makes it much more of a problem.

"After School Program" in Korean Schools

Since I have had some experience teaching in the “after school program” in Korea I read with interest the recent editorial in the Chosun Daily. The “after school program” tries to save the parents some money by helping the students at the school with some of the subjects that the parents feel necessary to prepare for the National Exams. This is a very praiseworthy effort and certainly should be continued but at the same time efforts should be made to improve the teaching during the regular hours of class.

The Government has set aside about 350 thousand dollars for 400 schools for a period of 3 years starting in July, for schools not using private institutions for educational purposes. The money will go to help hire teachers for the program, enable teachers with incentives, work with the capabilities of the students and tailor the programs to the different students’ needs. The programs in the school differ from the academies in that they do not have to rent space and can run the programs inexpensively. In programs that they have monitored they can teach in after school programs for 20 hours a month and do it for half the price of the cheapest academies.

One of the benefits of the after school program is that it is elected and they can take the students where they are in their studies and work from there. It could be more efficient and the teachers more zealously involved. The academies are often called cram schools which give you an idea of what they are hoping to achieve.

The parents in Korea take the studies of the children extremely serious. They do not have the number of children that their parents had and they know that the studies are going to determine what schools they can attend and their future. The parents here in Korea are said to spend four times the amount of money for outside school studies than those in the economies of similar countries. Part of the reason for this is the lack of confidence in the school system. We have parents sending their children overseas with the mother for education and the father remains here in Korea to earn the money for them. These are called wild geese fathers for they are reunited with the family, if the funds allow, once a year. There are also over a 100,000 Korean students studying in the United States which outnumbers any other foreign student group. These are signs that the parents do not have confidence in the Korean school system.

I learned in my few years in the program that there was need for accountability. The teachers should be graded for their abilities and helped to be more effective. They can do much better with the regular school programs and use the after school programs as a supplement. Competition would also help improve the quality of the teaching. The government can spend a great deal of money on all kinds of programs but if the teachers are not qualified than you will not get the results. When one talks about accountability nobody wants it. It is a big burden on all that are involved but a very necessary part of getting a quality product.