Poll: Grades, not character, count
In a joint character index survey by Kyung Hee University and the JoongAng Ilbo, 41.8 percent of the teenage respondents said they would keep lost money that they found on the streets. The photograph was staged. By Kang Jung-hyun
“My mom said I don’t need friends. Only school grades will judge me,” she said.
Yet she refused to be named.
A male eighth-grader in Dongdaemun District, central Seoul, who also asked for anonymity, thinks he must bully his class outcast in order not to be bullied himself.
“Honestly, I don’t like harassing other kids,” he said, further emphasizing that he is “innocent” because all he is doing is “following the collective action.” If he defies the group, he will become their “next target.”
Communication without profanity is not imaginable for a male seventh-grader in Gangnam District. “I don’t care about my bad mouth; you should listen to my parents,” he said, adding that his parents use foul language.
They are only part of the 82 students in Seoul that the JoongAng Ilbo interviewed in collaboration with professors from Kyung Hee University. During the past three months, five reporters and seven professors conducted a research project to look into the character of Korean teenagers.
Our main source of research was a national survey of 2,171 middle school students, 232 teachers and 353 parents. We designed the “character index” on a scale of zero to 100 by grading the respondents on 10 different personality-sections, which are honesty, righteousness, law abidance, responsibility, sympathy, communication, generosity, cooperation, self-understanding and self-control. Thirty questions were asked in total.
The average of the character index was 69.8 points. “Honesty” was the lowest with 61.7 points and “righteousness” the highest with 81.3 points. The highest sections include “sympathy” at 76.4 points, “communication” at 75 points and “responsibility” at 74.5 points. The lowest were “generosity” at 63.6 points and “self-control” at 64.3 points.
“I would interpret the survey’s average of 69.8 points to a grade C or D,” said Kim Jung-baek, a professor of social science at KHU on the research team. “We asked basic behavioral questions so they [the respondents] probably just chose whatever sounds right,” instead of being sincere.
A closer analysis of the survey showed that teachers and parents rated teenagers lower than they did themselves. The total average of 69.8 points included grades from teachers and parents, at 50.7 points and 60.5 points, respectively.
“Teenagers today are irresponsible and impolite,” said Choe Kyung-ju, 47, the mother of a seventh-grader. “Parents spoiled them by being too gentle.”
Scenes that illustrate our test results were not far away. Late last month, the research team visited two junior high schools in downtown Seoul for a field study to observe teenagers for the entire day.
In one school in Gangbuk District, northern Seoul, a classroom looked more like a garbage dump. During lunchtime, students returning from the cafeteria each held an ice cream, bag of chips or piece of bread in their hands. After gobbling down their snacks, the remains were thrown straight to the floor.
“Everyone takes turn sweeping the floor,” said a student, referring to the after-class cleanups in Korean schools, in which every student must clean a certain area. She said not to worry because “the one on duty this week is responsible for the mess.”
A student perched on a chair shrugged when we asked him why he threw his garbage on the floor. The boy next to him answered on his behalf, “He just tosses his trash into the air unless he’s the weekly sweeper.”
Not a single student voluntarily picked up the garbage that day.
“Kids usually dodge out of school after they finish cleaning their assigned areas,” said a ninth-grade teacher in a school in Gangnam District. “Back in the old days, students were dismissed only after approval from the teacher’s keen inspection.” The teacher’s nod to go home was hard won, he stressed.
The daily cleanups are a “pivotal process of character education for teenagers,” said professor Kim Jung-Baek of the research team. “They learn cooperation and mutual understanding,” he said, adding, “It’s a shame how the daily ritual has lost all of that significance.”
In another classroom at the heart of Gangbuk District, seventh-graders were forming into groups during an ethics class, when a female student suddenly shrieked, “Get away! I don’t want to be in the same team as you!” A male student snapped, “Me neither!” We approached the girl, who later said she refused to partner with the boy because he was academically poor, and having him in the team would harm the entire group.
Later in the day, during a science lesson in the same classroom, a teacher warned a student not to be late again. The latecomer instantly grimaced and flung his textbook on his desk, full of defiance. Shocked by what we witnessed, we later related the scene to other teachers, who said that it was quite “commonplace these days.”
When we questioned the teenagers about whether they have received character education at school, most looked puzzled. “I think I wrote a report once after seeing a relevant video,” one muttered.
After informing them that character virtues are highly crucial and that they can be tested in future college admissions, an eighth-grader snapped, “Really? Then I should register for a personality private academy.”
In a society that spotlights intelligence, one’s character can be easily disregarded, suggested an eighth-grader when asked to select either outstanding scholastic performance or good character for future success. “When you meet a grown-up, the first thing they ask isn’t your personality,” she said. “It’s your alma mater.” A few days later when we went to Daechi-dong, southern Seoul, we learned she might not be alone in saying this.
Throngs of students in their school uniforms were flooding into private education academies in Daechi-dong, also known as the hub of private education in Korea. When the clock struck 10 p.m., a girl rushed out of a building, urgently telling us that she had no time for an interview. “I need to do my homework,” is all she said.
The character index suggests that teenagers these days are deceitful, selfish and ill-mannered. The field study showed no better. Kim Byung-chan, a professor of education at KHU, blamed mass media as the key culprit, explaining that teenagers are exposed to so many “social evils.”
“Parents should first set an example for their children,” advised Kim, adding that “character education should be designed to guide students to grow into well-mannered adults.”
BY SUNG SI-YOON, KIM HYE-Mi [enational@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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