This is what we're up against

The parents of our students tend to be a very demanding bunch. Our Korean teachers often get phone calls from parents insisting that their child receive more individual attention, more speaking opportunities than the other students, better care, etc. You can imagine how this plays out when all the parents make similar demands. This week I had an experience that illustrates how far the insanity has gone.

Last week one of my classes moved up to Level 3. One of my brighter students from the class took his new books home, and his father started quizzing him out of the new books. Now keep in mind that the student, Alex, only just received his books. When Alex couldn't answer any of his father's questions, his father blew up and ripped all Alex's books up. I'm sure Alex, who is about 6 or 7 years old, was very surprised and confused. But it doesn't end there. Alex's father then called the school, accused us of not teaching his son anything (Alex scored in the high 90's on his last major test), and informed us that Alex would no longer be attending the school.

If I hadn't seen this before, I would assume that it was an isolated case, but it isn't. It happens all the time. Some people say it has to do with the fact that our students all come from rich families, and rich parents tend to be more demanding. I think there is some truth to this, but this situation also sheds light on how competitive pre-school or extra-curricular education has become here. Some of our students are in as many as nine extra-curricular academies. Where will it stop?