Suicide in Education

I was shocked when I heard the news. I had just arrived and was preparing my lesson plans for the day when a co-worker told me. At first I couldn't be certain if it was true or not, but the look in my Korean co-worker's eyes told me otherwise...

I was shocked when I heard the news. I had just arrived and was preparing my lesson plans for the day when a coworker told me. At first I couldn't be certain if it was true or not, but the look in my Korean co-worker's eyes told me otherwise. A young boy took his own life in Seoul. Having failed an exam the burden and shame he felt drove him to commit an act that seems impossible to us for a child to undertake.

Teaching English in South Korea could be more than you bargained for. ESL is a multi-million dollar industry in South Korea. One which the owners of these private schools as well as the parents who send their kids to them take very seriously.

The pressure to succeed academically is so intense that children are unable to cope. This week we take a solemn look at ESL teaching in South Korea and what, as ESL teachers we can do to bring relief to an otherwise tense academic environment.