[Opinion] Parents Take Education Stand

In March, Mr. and Mrs. Witherlin in Lexington, Massachusetts were shocked when their seven-year-old son said, “Isn’t it funny that a man marries a man?” They found out that his teacher read a fairy tale “A King and a King,” a story of a prince who resisted the pressure to marry a princess and finally fell in love with and happily married the brother of the princess. Mr. and Mrs. Witherlin referred the matter to the parents association. They argued that it was inappropriate to teach homosexuality to children who are not prepared to make a mature judgment.

The parents association mentioned above is the Parents Rights Coalition (PRC), which is a renowned parents association in the US. It immediately raised the issue of homosexuality education programs and launched a campaign to cut relevant budgets of the state government. The PRC has argued that parents, as proxies of children, taxpayers, and education consumers, have the right to know everything that takes place in schools. The coalition played a decisive role in enacting the Parents Right Bill in 1996 despite the opposition from the teachers union.

Although very enthusiastic about their children’s education, Korean parents are not fully enjoying their rights in school. Recently a teacher, a member of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU), taught students not to salute the national flag, saying, “One should not go to the army, which forces soldiers to fight against North Koreans who share the same blood with us.” Parents did not know where to raise the issue and ended up reporting it to the media. As their children are in the hands of teachers, Korean parents become small before teachers.

Parents who could not ignore the harm done by the KTU finally, however, raised their voice. Parents who would not tolerate partiality and control-oriented education policies held a founding members’ meeting on July 13 and launched the New Right Parents Coalition. I look forward to seeing the coalition to redress the balance of the Korean education over which teachers has had more influence than parents. For that, more parents’ efforts will be required.

Chung Seong-hee, Editorial Writer, shchung@donga.com