[LETTERS]Toward a rosier multicultural future

As a reader I was interested in your article, “A multicultural future?”[Oct. 30] which reported the difficulties of mixed-culture families. I basically agree with the opinion that children from such families are out of favor with the benefits of education, and Korean society has to be open toward these families.

The problems of multicultural families are based on traditional family values and moral values that the general public has held onto for a long time. It would be difficult to solve the problems only with the government policies that were mentioned in the article.

The government has to provide education not only for the children from mixed-culture families but also for children from single-culture families. It’s most important to systematically teach all students that mixed-culture families are on the same level as Korean citizens and how to harmonize with each other.

I have observed how the policies are practiced in school as an elementary school teacher.

The government made a budget for children from mixed-culture families, but the system is not well-organized.

Some university students are taking care of them in school as a mentor a couple of times a week. But although their Korean has progressed so that they can speak it well, their skin color has not changed.

Does the writer think the point of this problem is language and adjustment? If so, this is short-sighted. School teachers need to get extra training to professionally help children adjust to Korea.

Also, another good suggestion is to support women from overseas through special classes on topics such as Korean education or child-rearing. If we make the best use of talent through their various cultural experiences, it would be a better policy.

Today, the magic of TV shows or public service advertising is so powerful. It will play an important role to change our pride as a racially homogeneous nation into respect for diversity. We have to embrace each other to prevent the “race problem in Korea.”

Kim Joy, elementary school teacher