Page 52 - IJPS-11-4

International Journal of
Population Studies Education fever in South Korea

broader worldview, intuitive understanding of complex financial, psychological, and mental burdens. Families’
material, creativity, and emotional maturity. Due to the gross expenditures on private after-school tutoring and
limited form of instruction – principally self-study from instruction far exceed those on formal high-school tuition
written materials and sample examinations – Korean and school supplies. According to Statistics Korea (2022),
adolescents lack the social, emotional, and problem- 75.5% of elementary, middle, and high school students
solving skills necessary to mature at the same age as their received private education in 2021, averaging 29 hours
foreign peers. This is aggravated by a tight after-school per month and costing 485,000 Korean won per month
tutoring program, which does not allow for close personal per student, or 367,000 Korean won when including
relationships with their peers, social awareness beyond non-participants (equivalent to approximately US$373 or
what is being tested, or the development of soft skills such $282, respectively). Nationwide, 23.4 trillion Korean won
as socializing and creative problem solving. The academy- (equivalent to approximately US$18 billion) was spent
hopping – arranged by “manager moms” (related to the well- on private tutoring in the year 2021. Meanwhile, rich and
known role of soccer or hockey moms in North America) poor families differ in their means of arranging shadow
– has been referred to as transboundary post-schooling education. Parents who cannot afford it take out loans due
(Kim & Jung, 2019). Because the decisions regarding the to a sense of shame, peer pressure, and “prestige orientation”
number and choice of subjects, and the study schedule, are (Lee, 2006; Lee & Shouse, 2011). These financial burdens
made for the students, they miss out on gaining self-control, further constrain their disposable incomes and cause
perspective, and experience in making their own decisions. additional distress down the line.
The pursuit of a high score on the university entrance Public teachers preparing students for the university
examination day deprives students of 12 school year’s entrance examination also experience stress (Kim, 2016),
worth of opportunities to develop an array of physical, overwork, strained voice, and other adverse health
emotional, psychological, and social functions – notably outcomes – particularly homeroom teachers in the third
their sociability, creativity, critical analytical skills, and year of high school (Kim & Lee, 2001; Shin et al., 2013;
independence. At home, throughout their childhood and Lee et al., 2018a; 2018b). Aggression from students is also
adolescence, students are directed by a carrot-and-stick prevalent (Moon et al., 2015). This evidence corroborates
approach to fulfill their parents’ expectations, with their the presupposition that the status quo in Korean
autonomy and self-governance under suspension. adolescents’ upbringing and initiation is deleterious to
social welfare and should be reformed.
Korean mothers’ overzealous engagement in
their children’s upbringing has a number of negative 3.2. The psycho-emotional and physical harms of
repercussions, including excessive need for physical and forced schooling
social contact, extended infantilization, hindrance of Relying on carrot-and-stick approaches to children’s
independent behavior and social maturity, and a distorted initiation reduces their status within the home to that
(low or high) degree of parental control over the children’s of objects to be groomed, and warps family bonds from
life choices (Levy, 1966).
intimate person-to-person mutual-learning and respect
Students merely learn to amass and compartmentalize relations to person-to-object command-and-submission
theoretical facts without the capacity to judge the facts’ relations. In this setting, parents act as their children’s
validity and relevance, or the legitimacy of their mentors managers rather than companions, with negative
and the learning process broadly. This lack of critical consequences for children’s development outcomes (Jang
thinking is problematic as the transmitted knowledge & Suh, 2021). The disassociation between parent and child
may be incorrect, irrelevant to the students’ long-term may lead to the child’s “experiential stunting” (Smith,
needs, or mischaracterized by biased instruction. Indeed, 2013). Hence, paradoxically, the manager moms engaging
students’ English proficiency is often limited to reading in chimatbaram and following their children relentlessly
comprehension and providing standard written responses, could be reproached for emotional neglect toward their
and even that proficiency may wither after the conclusion children.
of qualifying examinations (Cho & Brutt-Griffler, 2015). Besides emotional and cognitive consequences, physical
The academies also distort the learners’ discovery of harms are also inflicted. Because students face high
knowledge (or the initiate–initiator relationship) through pressure to produce academic results, their stress levels
the fragmented perspectives offered by multiple part-time, are elevated for extended periods of time. High school
overworked instructors. students experience substantial stress during the two years
Parents and teachers themselves are not immune to leading up to the examination date, a phenomenon known
the impacts of the education fever, facing significant as the “disease of the third grade of high school.” Clinical

Volume 11 Issue 4 (2025) 46 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.2955