Commenter Brian on the Open Thread posted a link to Korea Beat translation of a story from the Hankyorehon some schools requiring students with naturally brown or curly hair to show proof that these features are natural and carry special IDs, called 자연머리 확인증, or Confirmation of Natural Hair.
Recently schools have been requiring students with naturally colored or curly hair to obtain proof. Students with naturally-colored hair must get confirmation form their parents and teacher and keep the proof with them when they go to school. A large number of schools in Seoul, including Ilshin girls’ High School, Gyeonggi Girls’ High School, Daewon Girls’ High School, Dongmyeong Girls’ High School, and Seomun Girls’ High School, issue the ID cards.
The Hankyoreh story at Daum shows an image of a special ID for a girl with naturally brown hair. Is this for real?
{ 41 comments… read them below or add one }
So how much trouble would a high school kid get into for holding up a ‘Bong Hits 4 Jesus’ banner?
“The ‘natural hair id’ is a ‘solution’ to this issue.” I still don’t understand the issue. When confronted with a student with hair that is different from the norm do teachers go into a swoon? Are they suddenly unable to teach? What meager issue do they have with this particular deviation from the norm. I understand that many schools have uniforms so some students will be wearing uniforms with curly or brown hair. The problem is precisely what? Perhaps we’ll start seeing the reintroduction of the star of David on people’s lapels. I would really love to hear someone’s, anyone’s rationalization.
Simple. They don’t want any dyed or curled hair in highschool classes. They don’t want a sexualized high school. They want to mold every kid into one individual group.
I understand if schools would ban, say, blonde DYED hair, or pink streaks, or other obvious dye jobs. Uniforms and dress codes aren’t, in my opinion, a bad thing for schools. Matter of fact I prefer them. However, the issue here isn’t that schools are just cracking down on deviations from the dress code . . . they’re cracking down on what is considered deviations from “Korean.” Schools are perfectly justified in creating a certain environment and forcing students to adhere to a particular image, philosophy, or behavior. It is perfectly acceptable to discourage students from intentionally rebelling against a particular set of norms: after all, society is built on positive and negative reinforcement, and Korean schools are right in not wanting to encourage the violence, disrespect, and idleness that occur in Western schools. What is not acceptable, though, is for schools to tie image to ethnicity or to genes, and construe a person’s natural appearance as a dirty deviation that must be cleansed.
You know, I think this is an issue people ought to be taking a little more seriously. Yeah, yeah, I’m sure some administrator somewhere will issue an apology and that will be that, and everyone will forget about this story. But people really need to get real about Korea’s race ideologies and this pure blood nonesense. I’m definitely bringing up this article at my teachers’ workshops this week to guage their reactions to the story, to dress codes, and to the different “images” of Korea. Koreans are not one blood or one race after all, and are a mixture of various nationalities . . . and down here in Jeollanam-do, international marriages are all the rage, as high as 33% in some counties. Mixed-race Koreans is no longer a hypothetical situation any longer. However, I’m kind of discouraged because I know how at least some of my colleagues will respond to brown-haired Koreans. *Sigh* Guess that’ll be time to bring up Korea’s Indian, Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese, and European genetic make-up.
Well said Brian! CM, my questions were for the most part rhetorical. Although I would have liked to have read someone addressing the particulars of the issue in the article. Perhaps they’ve lost track.
The problem has become a matter of a desire on the part of schools to control deviant behavior bleeding into ostracising a group of inocents. And certainly these innocents have enough to worry about and are already marginalized enough without beaureucrats piling on. These dye-jobs are pretty obvious. If the kid had straight hair last semester and it’s curly now then you might take issue. If they were smart they might see a problem with too much conformity. At least I do.
Really, they are spending an awful lot of time on this fringe nit-picking when they might bother to teach these children the meaning of “no” and “stop”. That would be of greater benefit. Perhaps they might reintroduce the confuscious doctrine of respect for teachers. Of course they would have to cease the enforcement of rules which are obviously ridiculous and feed into student’s disrespect. They might also try easing up on extreme discipline for minor infractions. Nothing breeds respect like a beating because of a spelling mistake.
I should have put quotation marks around the “issue” there. In fact I pretty well butchered that whole post. If you work really hard you might get the gist of what I was trying to say.
I really have a problem with the system trying to subdue these kids individuality. It’s as if they’re trying to mirror the North. Even when they rebel there is conformity. The deviants here are oh so sheeplike, so predictable. Why is imagination such a dreadful concept?
You know, I find this quite alarming. They are essentially forcing visible minorities to get registered (and forcing their parents to pay a tax).
BTW, I distinctly remember that the Korean supreme court rule several years ago that school’s regulations on their students’ hair was unconstitutional as it went against their individual right to self-determination. What ever happened to that?
Well, it’s just like them making corporal punishment illegal here. Teachers aren’t legally allowed to hit students, but they still do it- a lot!
A close friend of mine has extremely black hair. Her natural hair color actually looks like a black dye job. When she was a student, she got threatened with all sorts of punishment and her mother had to come to the school to inform them that that’s her real hair. Idiots!
This registering is completely ridiculous and really recalls the forced wearing of Stars of David!
However, I guess it’s the only thing the pea brains could think of to stop teachers from beating or otherwise punishing students who they thought dyed/permed their hair.
Here’s a thought these idiots didn’t think about- inform schools and teachers that, yes, some Korean kids have naturally brown or curly hair. Don’t beat them for it!
It’s not just the kids who look different who are abused in such a matter. My wife’s cousin, a Korean-American, couldn’t speak a word of Korean when he returned to Korea as a teenager. His teachers in middle and high school gave him a lot of trouble because they simply couldn’t get through their thick skulls that his first language is English, not Korean.
Hey Someguy, like I said. A complete lack of imagination or empathy. Why is that? It seems like the mind could not possibly be stifled for long. Isn’t it innate that we are overwhelmed with the desire to go off the beaten trail? At least occassionally? Does the South so admire the North and its clones?
#8, I also remember that ruling, in 2005 I think, but it must have been the National Human Rights Commission rather than the Supreme Court. NHRC rulings have no legal force.
Korea’s biggest problem is this. We have 1-2 generations who are repressed in a sense just as much as the North Koreans.
These retarded parents think children are modifiable pieces of clay or something. With this repression we’ll never have the creativity needed for a capitalistic world and we’ll end up like Japan, copying the Americans.
My gf just told me that any individualism was repressed in school and that some classmate was derided by the teachers and given minus points for having earrings… that were put in her ears by her mother in elementary school…
…and removing them did no good as the piercing holes were still visible enough to qualify for minus points…
My wife told me her cousin’s teacher would shout at him, telling him he was just pretending not to understand them, especially his English teacher who couldn’t speak English at all.
Brian’s comments are very much to the point. This sort of action could could easily constitute discrimination and I wonder if this is legal, even here.
In the spirit of clarity — since some of you seem completely dumbfounded as to what could possibly be the purported rationale for this policy — I will take you inside the sorry minds of these teachers.
Dyed or curled hair is against school policy. Students go to great lengths to circumvent these rules, including lying that their hair is “naturally” colored or curled. Some parents, just to keep their children from getting into trouble, will lie right alongside their children. If we let these people get away with lying, the whole school will be overrun by students who get permission to dye/curl their hair from their parents. Hence, we will require “evidence” of natural hair color, and upon verification, require the student to carry an ID to prove his claim. This last measure is to protect teachers who may inadvertently beat up a child with naturally odd-colored hair, and subsequently forced to, gasp, apologize. Of course, if the hair is in fact dyed, any non-lethal method of beating is fair game.
This analysis may be outdated, since it’s been a long time since I was freed of these institutions, but judging from the article, things haven’t changed much. On an ironic note, the 전교조 is just about the only organization of teachers that is trying fight against these and other atrocious practices. Yet another example that blanket chastisement of liberal organizations for their alleged connection with the North is imprudent.
The 전교조 isn’t by chance the same group that produced and showed to high school school kids that infamous video in which Bush and Roh were shown having a conversational exchange that included repeated utterances of the F-word along with other profanities.
#17
“This last measure is to protect teachers who may inadvertently beat up a child with naturally odd-colored hair, and subsequently forced to, gasp, apologize.”
And that is the point that the rest of the world is trying to get Korea to understand. The fact that a teacher would have the desire to beat up someone who looked different and not the “pure image” of what Korean is, is the problem. The peninsula will never be embraced as civil and moderm by the outside until it drops this undeserving racial praise of itself. It makes Korea look like retarded inbred idiots, and not world class. Much like the deep south of the U.S.
“It makes Korea look like retarded inbred idiots, and not world class. Much like the deep south of the U.S.”
I’m just trying to imagine stereotypical deep south inbreds driving around in blue Bongo pick up trucks, enjoying a ‘gag concert’ on their navigation system. Can’t do it.
“On an ironic note, the 전교조 is just about the only organization of teachers that is trying fight against these and other atrocious practices. Yet another example that blanket chastisement of liberal organizations for their alleged connection with the North is imprudent.”
It is indeed a shame that the 전교조 folks are perhaps the only teachers’ organization trying to fight this. Doesn’t mean they aren’t completely nuts on other issues. Shouldn’t they be considered at least partially responsible for cultivating their radical image?
Sonagi:
I must have missed the infamous video, but if some teachers did show such a videon, chances are, they’re 전교조.
Acropolis:
In all fairness, the policy has very little to do about race than about stifling what the teachers consider deviant behavior. What the Korean teachers are trying to do is prevent students from caring too much about their appearance (“공부는 안하고 외모에만 신경쓴다.”) The prohibited acts generally include wearing make-up, using any hair products (gel, wax, mousse, hairspray, etc.), wearing clothes that are too long/short/tight/loose, wearing jewelry, and of course, getting perms or coloring hair. I think the special ID policy is ludicrous because it unilaterally discredits a parent’s vouching for their child, and discriminates against students who have done nothing wrong. But it’s really not about the “pure image” of Korea unless at a very tenuous subconscious level of individual teachers.
Globalvillageidiot:
I agree, they’re responsible for their radical image. What I’m saying, though, is that as radical and pro-North/anti-U.S. as some of the policies of these liberal groups are, there is still much good coming out of their activities. Sure, some of their members (and leaders) may have pro-North ulterior motives and agendas, but in my view, the defining characteristic of the people actually working for them tend to be (hopeless) idealism rather than communist extremism. The line between the communist/socialist movement and the democratic movement was extremely blurry in the days of authoritarian rule, but now, that line is beginning to be become a little more distinct as more liberals realize the need to clearly denounce the North and its policies. In any event, these organizations are very frequently the only ones that step up and protest when students are beaten and raped by teachers and professors (who usually get supended sentences if criminally charged at all), chaebol families create slush funds and expropriate benefits at the expense of minority shareholders, murders are covered up as suicides in the military, etc. The list goes on and on. We definitely need more liberal organiations to shed their un-liberal views about the North and the US, but I believe Korea is a better place for having organizations like 전교조, PSPD, and 한겨레, whose pro-North anti-US views are only a part of a vast array of truly liberal views. (Having said all that, I admit I’m too disgusted to read the likes of 오마이뉴스. I also admit 전교조 is a very tough pill to swallow and one we could do without if only there was an alternative organization that gave support to the sensible individual teachers that find it impossible to fight against the political machine without organizational support.)
Timmy,
You do a fine job explaining controversial topics from a Korean point of view without sounding defensive. Your username seems fairly new. How long have you been lurking/commenting?
My first Korean boyfriend of sorts had naturally brown hair. I first noticed him when I visited his company, a Korean-US joint venture. Seeing the back of his head from a distance, I thought he was a white guy until he turned around. Our relationship did not last long because he couldn’t get used to being stared at while we were together in public. This was back in 1993 when solar eclipses were more frequently seen than white female/Korean male couples.
Some points were made about the reasoning is that schools have these rules to keep students from being overly concerned about their appearance. It doesn’t work as the female students are still obsessed with how they look- many of them keep a hand mirror on their desk to constantly check themselves out.
Anyway, the point that seems to keep getting missed, especially by the Korean teachers, is the beating of students- it’s illegal and it’s high time they finally stop it.
What’s shocking for us is that teachers are so inclined to pounce on students who have brownish or curlyish hair.
Having discipline in schools is one thing, but this reliance on physically abusing students needs to be finished once and for all!
Believe it or not, some teachers actually pick on or abuse students who are different.
Friend of mine has a private with a very, very rich family.
The kids were going to high school in the States and then came back to Korea. Since the boy was 16, he got a driver’s license. Back in Korea, since he has a valid U.S. license, he could get a Korean license, which he did. He can now drive at 17 when pretty much all Koreans can’t until they are 20. Well, he has to go to Korean high school now to prepare for the entrance test. He can drive to school, but he doesn’t do it because he’s afraid the teachers will pick on him or even abuse him because he’s so “uppity” as to have the gumption to drive to school.
Idiots!
Timmy,
There certainly might be some good coming out of their activities; however, it is unfortunate that groups here so often seem to feel the need to be so far left or far right in character, especially when so many Koreans are, more or less, middle of the road.
What is so disappointing a lot of the liberals in Korea is that they often seem more obsessed with race/ethnicity than their counterparts on the right. (Not something I associate with progressives – real or imagined – in most other countries.) I guess that, on a certain level at least, I hold self-described progressives/liberals to a higher standard.
I’m more sympathetic to many left leaning causes – and sometimes inclined to vote for left of center parties – in Canada, but ever since I got here, a lot of these groups – from teacher and trade unions to student organizations to Green Korea – have really turned me (and, I suspect many others) off.
I’m with GVI. The political scene is so ridiculously polarized here that it’s a wonder anything ever gets done, and the left here comes across as really belligerent.
I find it an interesting irony that in Canada and USA, the Conservative Right are characterized as the ones that would censor a free press or a book, the conservative right are the nationalist rabble-rousers and the xenophobic isolationists, while in Korea, the LEFT side comes across as xenophobic, super-nationalist, and (during the Roh administration) suppressive of a free press. (though 2MB’s list of journalists and their political leanings makes me suspect that this weird relationship between the blue house and the press might just be a Park Chunghee leftover, rather than something unique to the Korean left or right). It just goes to show that these postures are not inherently left OR right; they’re just trappings that were picked up along the way. At least LMB, the Christian conservative, got the religious right thing settled away properly.
I’ve always hated polarized, partisan politics — I usually play both sides against the middle, and I tire of the way each side too often dismisses the other without listening.
In an attempt to keep the students from obsessing over their appearances, (some of)the schools/teachers are obsessing over the students’ appearance. Egad.
I think as pointed out in other posts, there are more deeply rooted intentions for the unreasonable approach to controlling the students’ appearance, and a frightening lack of tolerance/discretion on the part of some of the “enforcers”.
I teach at an elementary school, and the students get along quite well with short/long/curly/straight/black and brown hair.
Surely these teachers have bigger fish to fry, like say, hummm…teaching ?
In elementary school they are allowed to “express themselves”.
It’s middle school where the hammer comes down and they are expected to become clones.
“Some points were made about the reasoning is that schools have these rules to keep students from being overly concerned about their appearance.”
Nah. It’s about power and control over the students and their parents and stifling individualism.
from 17: “If we let these people get away with lying, the whole school will be overrun by students who get permission to dye/curl their hair from their parents.”
oh the horror. Reminds me of my highschool. It was completely overrun and hasn’t been the same since.
I’m quite surprised from some of the comments from people coming from Canada/USA, perhaps it’s because I’m way out of my time. Anyway, I find it surprising because such policies were quite common awhile ago in Western private or non-secular schools (though I’m quite certain these traditions are maintained at some schools). While they never asked for a special verification, if a kid showed up with a hair color that was suspected of being dyed or bleached, teachers would bug the parents about it and if the kid did do said deed, they’d be sent home until it got cut. Considering the less physically varying racial diversity in South Korea, I’m guessing it’s more difficult to convince the teacher that your not bullshitting, and come on…some of the stuff those kids pull, I’m not surprised.
You’re talking about private schools- whole different thing.
These are public schools which are not supposed to practice discrimination or use corporal punishment, but they still do because they just can’t seem to evolve.
If they want to be “global” or the “hub” of anything, they’ve got to get rid of pea brained
lack of thinking like this!
“Recently schools have been requiring students with naturally colored or curly hair to obtain proof.”
Okay
“Anyway, I find it surprising because such policies were quite common awhile ago in Western private or non-secular schools (though I’m quite certain these traditions are maintained at some schools).”
Why is it surprising? Were they forced to carry an ID card to prove that their hair is natural?
“While they never asked for a special verification…”
So, you admit your previous point is moot?
“…if a kid showed up with a hair color that was suspected of being dyed or bleached, teachers would bug the parents about it and if the kid did do said deed, they’d be sent home until it got cut.”
You forget that the parents agreed that the kids will follow the school’s dress code when they signed them up for school (and the dress code was well spelled out to them).
I dislike school dress codes (they marginalize the kids)… but requiring kids who look different to get a special ID card takes the cake. Did it occur to you the kind of psychological damage this may cause to the kids who look different? Aren’t the teachers supposed to help these kids grow as well adjusted individuals? What kind of message is this sending to them? Don’t you think they’ve been harassed enough by their classmates?
Besides, if you look at it in practically terms, its fairly easy to tell the difference between a dye job, a perm, and someone’s natural hair.
I think another school of thought involved in this ‘regulation’ is that deviation from the standard is distracting from their schoolwork. Of course, that’s why in countries like U.S. only kids who went to private schools with strict dress codes go to college while the public schooled kids are lucky enough to graduate. (That last sentence was supposed to be sarcastic, but now that I have written it, it’s a hyperbolic truth. Oh man…)
Repression of individuality in an era where individuality is more or less globally accepted will only lead to deviation (aka “PK” effect).
Educators should focus more on effective pedagogy than stupid, irrelevant bullshit like this.
Sonagi:
Thanks for the compliment. I personally think Korea has risen in status to a point where Koreans can stop feeling so insecure, but on the other hand, it’s hard for some not to be defensive when they feel our country’s survival always depends on what the surrounding superpowers (espcially the US) think of us. I don’t blame them, but the way I see it, the more insecure you are, the more illogical and unconvincing your arguments become.
I’ve been a (very inactive) lurker for less than a year, and only started commenting a couple of months ago. I feel that expats have a much more accurate and objective view of Korea, so I very much enjoy coming here.
I have a feeling that last sentence won’t go down well with some of our commenters, and I can’t say that I agree. Expats, as outsiders from a different culture, have a different view but not more accurate or objective. None of the expat and few of the ethnic Korean commenters here know first-hand what it is like to be a student in a Korean high school. You do.
I’d argue that intaking/observing expat opinion (qualitatively, not quantitatively) allows for a more balanced views, rather than that the expat opinion = balanced view.
Timmy, your comments are very candid and insightful and lack the “knee-jerk” sensitivity of some. I think the contrast is that because you have lingered in the periphery your remarks are responsive rather than reactive, thoughtful rather than emotional. We ex-pats can be the same way. Certainly our criticisms could sometimes do with a little more objectivity and less emotion.
“…but requiring kids who look different to get a special ID card takes the cake.”
That’s a good point. Maybe they can embed the info and give the teachers card readers.
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