Veiled Injustice and Violation of Human Rights in School

By 유서연 

“Students are prisoners jailed in a prison called school.” This is a common saying, said by students as a joke when they come across a situation that oppresses them. Though usually considered black humor, it does contain some drops of truth as it cannot be refuted that students’ rights are disregarded in ways veiled by the roof dictated as “school”. Because the school operates by its own rules, in most cases teachers’ and students’ behavior follows the school policies, not the “law” established in the wider society. In Korea, to protect students’ rights, a decree called “Ordinance of Student Rights” exist. It harbors legal validity by its own and can be applied in circumstances if it is related to the violation of students’ basic rights. However, students fail to notice such circumstances as the wrongs carefully hide behind the meticulous mask called rules, and reasons. Viewed thoroughly, though, unjust discrepancies can soon be found. This is applied same to our school. Some wrongs of Yeoksam Middle School, based on “Ordinance of Student Rights”, are stated below. 

 On all doors between the school elevator and the hall, a notice banning students from using it is written clearly in red. On first thought, this seems reasonable, as school elevators are for people who are in conditions hard to climb stairs. However, what we must take into account is that the standard about who is allowed to take the elevator and who isn’t is based on “social position”, not the “present condition”. This is evidently, wrong. In social ethics, a principle called “to each according to his needs” exists. Though usually associated with communism, this concept is also the basis of modern social justice. The basic idea is this: When some sort of resource is left, it must be given to the one in “a condition” that needs it the most. In modern governments, a fixed amount of resources are even spared in the first place to support facilities for people who “need” them. This is and must be considered as a certain, natural thing. But is it viewed that way? Clearly not. Let’s get back to the case of our school. What did the banning sign say? No “students” are allowed to use the elevator. This is strange. School elevators were originally built for “people” who are in serious “need” of it, not “teachers” who are differentiated in “positions” in school. The expression does not take into account, does not care, and does not differentiate students who are physically unwell, carrying heavy things, or in urgent situations. It merely dictates “students”, who are in diverse situations to take take the stairs. It only allows teachers to take the elevators, not because they are sick or because they are conveying heavy things, but because they are teachers. If the school, Yeoksam Middle School, wanted to separate people allowed to use the school elevator, the criterion must have been a “standard”, not a “qualification”. 

Every first, second, and third grader of YS Middle School would have experienced the same test in music class. It is singing in front of the class and having the song sung marked by the teacher; this as well, in front of the whole class. This, even though it is mostly seen as a minor joke to tease friends for their terrible singing skills and low scores, is explicitly an infringement of privacy. According to the fourteenth article of the “Ordinance of Student’s Rights”, a student has the right to have their family relationships, test scores, and other private information protected. It is evidently against the country’s policy to call out scores in front of the whole class, solely to finish marking in a shortened period of time. Human rights can never be disposed of in order to achieve efficiency. Though when facing a situation where both values can be achieved, it is of course, right to choose that solution. And it is also true that efficiency is one of society’s crucial qualities, as our country has its foundation in capitalism. It may sound too idealistic to assert that human rights are so important. After all, it is discarded in many scenes of daily lives. That is why students tend to tolerate such nonsense. However, school is a place established to “learn”, for teachers, to “educate”. It is a place made to deliver idealistic morals to teach students how to judge what is right and what is wrong. But now, it is a place where students learn to consider their scores and their private information as jokes.

What students wear every day so naturally to school is obviously school uniforms. And on every one of the uniforms, a name tag is embroidered. Students are half-forced to attach name tags to their uniforms. Students get no chance to even consider if they want to show their names or not. However, they are exposed to the situation without any agreement. Of course, some kids might not have any antipathy toward revealing their names. Some might think, ‘Why make it such a big deal?’. It is not entirely wrong. After all, our names are not a secret. It is rather public information. But what one must take into account is that students are one of the easiest targets for crimes and the names can be used as a key trick for criminals to lure students. From name tags on students, criminals memorize some of the names of students and search some information about them. Then, they approach the students as if they are related to the students. Also, this is a slightly different case, but in one middle school in Sunbu-dong a student who helped a kid from getting bullied had to be the victim of harsh violence- the bullies found who the helper was by the name tag and revenged. School, which is a place to protect students is actually driving students into danger, and students aren’t even able to realize it. 

Injustice in school is rarely shed light on as school forces students to stop thinking critically. But the problem is, the “enforcement” does not seem to be “unjust”. It even looks like the school is doing the right thing, and students obeying the wrongful rules are sensible. This manipulation is elaborately weaved. School weighs “efficiency” much higher than “students”, and this cannot be only reproached, as it is the school’s role to manage the whole system of students. Sometimes, what is efficient is beneficial for students. The line between enforcement and rule is too obscure to clearly separate the two. Therefore, students must think about whether the rules they are habitually following are worthy enough to follow. What is wrong and right lies on each person’s thought. Whether one chooses to accommodate every enforcement or criticize every single rule is still their opinion, and should be valued as a whole because they all went through some process of thinking. However, adjusting to the force without any consideration is wrong. I hope this article brings what the school refused to provide: some piece of time for you to “think”.