<p>
Source: <a href=“http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/pacnews/archive/2006/01/28/koreanchildren28.DTL[/url]”>http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/pacnews/archive/2006/01/28/koreanchildren28.DTL</a></p>
<p>wow… that’s some serious stuff.
i understand that parents always want to do their best for the sake of their own children… but is this really the best way possible???.. letting other people to adopt their kids so they could get better education? I personally think that parent’s love and care is much more important factor in one’s life than some kind of education, whether that is American or Korean. The parents might think this is best for their children, but they should be able to see that their children is suffering from all this.</p>
<p>One thing I found interesting in the article was this quote:
That seemed to me to go against the “Asian” stereotype – rather than wanting more intense education and studying, this parent seems to be wanting the more relaxed & nurturing American approach to education. </p>
<p>Maybe this reflects a deep dissatisfaction that the parents have with their own lives. These are not parents trying to free their kids from poverty - rather they seem to be high-achieving, well-to-do, well-educated familes… who somehow have come to the conclusion that they are unable to provide for the needs of their own children in their own country. </p>
<p>On the other hand, there might be an untold story here. Maybe some of these teenagers have not done well enough in the Korean system to qualify for universities there, so an American high school and permanent residence or citizenship might be the only path to a college education. I don’t know enough about the Korean system to do more than speculate, but I do know that in many parts of the world kids are tested and tracked very early on. Perhaps thse are kids who would be directed to vocational education, and the US represents their only chance at an academic, college prep secondary education.</p>
<p>I did some googling and found these articles about education in South Korea:
<a href=“http://www.ief-usa.org/IEFnewsletter/newsletter_0602/newsletter_news3.htm[/url]”>http://www.ief-usa.org/IEFnewsletter/newsletter_0602/newsletter_news3.htm</a>
<a href=“Education/Literacy in Korea (School System, Preschool, Elementary Education, Middle School, High School, Higher Education, Entrance Examination, Junior Vocational College, College and University, Graduate School)”>Education/Literacy in Korea (School System, Preschool, Elementary Education, Middle School, High School, Higher Education, Entrance Examination, Junior Vocational College, College and University, Graduate School);
<p>Apparently entry to high school in Korea is mostly governed by exam - so it is very possible that the teens being sent to America are the children of high-achieving parents who did not score well enough to gain admission to a Korean high school. That casts a somewhat different light.</p>
<p>similar to US, only some private schools and so-called “magnet” schools have entrance exams. Majority of other high schools are public. Many students in South Korea compete and take exams for their place in a magnet school or school or gifted students (I don’t know the exact translation of the names) but quite obviously, the spaces are limited. Aside from these private/magnet/gifted school admission exam, probably the most important exam is the college entrance exam, which is somewhat similar to SAT in US, but different in that it is conducted only once a year, and students are tested on more than twelve or thirteen subjects on a single day. Unlike US, where many colleges put some amount of consideration on ECs or volunteer experiences, admission to Korean colleges and universities is most often determined only by the school GPA and this entrance exam.</p>
<p>I just wanted to clarify some things…
I’m a South Korean btw.</p>
<p>My son’s school (private, Boston area) has quite a few Korean students who live with guardians while they attend school. These students go on to American universities.</p>
<p>yea. most of the Koreans would prefer attending an American universities than a Korean one… Probably because of better chance of getting a job in Korea… and things like that… since it proves that they can speak/read/write English. Also, there is no denying in the fact that US has many of the best colleges/universities in the world.</p>
<p>I doin’t have the sense that my son’s classmates are being adopted by their guardians, although I don’t know for sure. One student was here with his mother - she bought a condo and lived with him. These kids are from well-to-do families (they have to be, tuition is $27K/year) whose parents really care about their education.</p>
<p>If the guardians are in the situation described in the article – being paid a large sum of money to adopt, continuing payments for room and board – it probably is not the sort of thing they would discuss publicly. Less questions all around if they simply say they are “guardians” than explain why an older couple would be adopting a teenager. </p>
<p>The adoption might be absolutely necessary to get the needed immigration status. I don’t really know, though - that’s just the impression I got from the article.</p>
<p>My brother taught English in S. Korea and quit after refusing to beat the kids for falling asleep in class (class was at 11:00 pm!). After their English class, the kids went home and stayed up until 2 or 3:00 in the morning doing homework. He did tell me that getting their kid in a good college for most important and dictated the kids’ future job and place in society.</p>
<p>It would be necessary to do an adoption for the child to attend public schol, but not private school. As long as the child is a bona fide tuition paying student, they are entitled to be in the US on a student visa. These kids go home in the summer and on vacations.</p>
<p>yea… koreans care about the “name” and prestige of the college way tooooo much. it’s like what college one goes determines one’s future…</p>
<p>Amazing story that’s linked in the original post:
"Putting a child up for adoption in the United States allows Korean parents to skirt around normal immigration procedures, a drawn-out process with no guarantee of approval. Parents generally seek retired American couples, whose own children often have left and have room to spare. The American couples receive an agreed-upon sum of money in exchange for adopting the child and providing food and housing. Couples receive upwards of $30,000, with additional payments as necessary to cover room and board for each child they adopt. In return, the child gains legal status in the United States, as well as the privilege of attending American schools. </p>
<p>The Korean birth parents relinquish all legal claims to their children, sending them instead to grow up in a house with people they have never met. </p>
<p>Despite the benefits, some young Koreans adopted in this manner have shown signs of emotional distress, reflected in their schoolwork and behavior at home. "</p>