Because I said so

I am my mother's daughter. Growing up, hearing "Because I said so" was possibly the most irritating thing. But...[queue ironic music]...I find myself resorting to that response. Yikes. However, I do realize how much easier it is to say that to a child than to explain why it is. I'm making conscious efforts to reduce my use of the phrase.

My 7-9 year olds do not listen. They do not listen to me; they do not listen to the other Korean teachers; they just do not listen. Today, Brian - a completely disrespectful, loud, attention-seeking 7 year old threw papers out the window today.  As I was writing words on the board for pronunciation, Brian yelled, "Teacher! Three - Two..." I turned and screamed NO! DON'T! STOP! NOOO! just as he reached one and let the papers fly.  I'm not exactly sure how much spanking is allowed, so I grabbed the first teacher I saw - the 25 year old new guy to ask him to address Brian in Korean since they dont understand English well enough.  The teacher looked stunned that I asked him to do this and said something in Korean to Brian. I assume he was just telling Brian, in the nicest Korean voice I've heard to date, not to do it.  I did not feel that justice was served or the Brian got the idea that littering is bad. So, after class I told Jungwha.  She attempted to talk to Brian, but he just stuck his nose in the air and walked away. That's ridiculous! But later, Brian came to me and apologized, but we all know those are just words.

Since Halloween is approaching, I decided to have a Halloween party for my students.  The one stipulation is that they had to write a scary/ghost story in order to have a party.  So, that was nice.  What I didn't realize is how ungrateful, stingy, and selfish most of these kids are. It's mainly the boys, but some girls as well.  I gave them a good bit of snacks, but they were constantly coming directly beneath me to hold out their hands and demand, "Give me more." So, to spite them, I do not give them more.  (Also I bought just enough for the amount I gave them).  Then, today one student had some bread, and so the flock of children bombard this student to hold out their hands and say they want some.  They are not appeased until their hands are full.  The one student couldn't move anywhere because the other children were surrounding her. I think it's ridiculous. Is this how it is with children back home?