I have been doing a lot of thinking about school recently. I have been comparing Korean schools to the ones that I went to back home, and there is a lot to compare - the teachers, the uniforms, the number of students, the behaviour of those students and, most importantly of all in the last few days, how those students are dealt with.

My memories of primary school are obviously the most fuzzy, being further repressed than all the others. But there are bits and pieces that I do remember - walking down the passages in line with the third tile on the left; stopping to greet each and every teacher ("Good morning, Mam. Good afternoon, Sir.") for fear of being punished otherwise; the ugly maroon pinafoure that plagued my existence for six years. My primary school was pretty strict as far as schools go, and I remember one occasion of punishment in particular - my grade three teacher grabbing hold of my ruler with the metal edge and rapping a few of the students over the knuckles with it (me being one of those students.) I also have a vague recollection of one of my friends being lifted from her seat by her ponytail and thrown to the floor because she was using the wrong kind of brush in art class. I am pretty confident that corporal punishment was banned in schools at this stage, but I cannot find any specific date for the outlawing of these kinds of punishments.

My memories of middle school are a little clearer. One of the first that I have is of addressing one of my teachers as Sir and being reprimanded rather harshly for it. This wasn't the kind of school where teachers were Sir's or Mam's, I was informed, and this also wasn't the kind of school where children were rapped over the knuckles or had other such punishments inflicted upon them. Instead, to replace light beatings, the school had a pink slip policy - don't do your homework? Misbehave? Pink slip for you! Three of those and you were suspended. It took me getting suspended twice in a matter of days (I had a terrible memory when it came to doing homework) for me to buck up and start concentrating, but once I did, there was no stopping me. After those two suspensions, I didn't receive more than two pink slips in the year and a half that remained of middle school.

On our arrival at high school, we quickly found out that there would be none of the pink slip nonsense. Pink slips were for middle schoolers, and we needed to grow up and take responsibility for our own actions. If we didn't participate, didn't do our homework, there was no one breathing down our necks or punishing us. We simply wouldn't be included in the lesson. It was up to us to make sure that our homework was done - doing it was for our own benefit and no one elses.

Now I am a teacher at a school that has very different practices from any of those that I have experienced. Korea, as most of you probably know, is very big into corporal punishment. It is commonplace to see students being beaten with sticks of varying thickness and length and with varying degrees of speed and strength. Even when the students are not being physically hit, other forms of punishment are enforced such as uncomfortable or even painful exercises. Coming from my background, it is strange to me and I find it difficult to watch and even harder to keep quiet about.

Why am I posting this now, you might ask. What has happened that warranted this ramble? Well, on Monday a ban on corporal punishment was officially implemented. Though the practice was outlawed awhile ago, this new move apparently solidifies it somehow, meaning that schools should shortly be stopping the practice of corporal punishment or expect to be severely fined. I have heard a number of people wondering aloud about how a lack of corporal punishment could possibly work, stating that there are not enough teachers to enforce any other method or that students will start wreaking havoc. I suppose we will have to see.

Any change takes time, but looking back on my school experiences, I think that the outlawing is for the best. My teachers certainly disagree though. They are still going to their classes with their sticks in hand.