This blog has often served as a means to chronicle my adventures abroad; it's been largely reserved for positive things, sparing everyone the difficulties of living abroad. Allow me for a moment to stray from that. Today was probably one of the most stressful days ever. For reasons I don't wish to post in this public forum, I think that Korean mothers are too involved in their children’s education.

Korea has one of the largest gender-wage gaps in the developed world with women making earn 38% less than their male counterparts; that’s, on average, only $.62 on every dollar that men earn. It seems to be expected that women stay home and raise the family while men serve as work horses, working their asses off to bring in all the money the family needs. Women’s lives are completely wrapped up into their children’s lives and educational well-being.

In many hagwons, there are cameras in every classroom that are hooked up to monitors in screening rooms that the parents can visit at any time. Now while I don’t actually advocate these screening rooms or the fact that parents can actually sit and monitor the teachers in their classes, I would beg certain angry mothers to come in and watch my class. This way they could see that I am a good teacher, and they could learn to trust that I know what I’m doing with my students. Yes, the students are learning. Yes, they are doing book work. A lot more book work than I actually believe first grade students should be doing at an after-school private academy to help them learn. We do work, and yes, we will play the occasional institution-created game to support the learning. The class is focused, and I am a reliable teacher.

While some may argue that women have a lot of social power they are the charged with choosing establishments for their children and being closely involved with the education system, too much involvement can become detrimental. Women need to be empowered to get out and work, to earn their own money, and to create their own lives.

Click here for more information about the gender-wage gap in Korea.