Where are the Parents of the Little Korean Children?

Since I have been in South Korea, I have noticed that the children run free. This really disturbed me. I first noticed it when we were traveling to the Traditional Folk Village. As we were on the bus going through a town I saw a little around the age of 8 running down the street with a cell phone in hand. I thought to myself, where are the parents? That day, I hoped to that I would not have to witness this again. However, since this day, I have noticed this several times in various places.

The reason that this disturbs me a lot is that I am an aunt of a 7 year old little girl. I know that if she was to run down the street or runs away from me in a store, I would fret that something might have happened to her.

Another day I observed this again when I was reading one morning before class at the local Starbucks. I was just glancing at all the Koreans on their morning routines. Then all of a sudden I see several little children running around by themselves. This time, even more disturbing than the first occasion was that these two children could not have been more than 5.

Then again, one day I noticed a mother around a child, but the mother did not seem to care about what her child was doing – the little girl of about 3 was just wondering around while the mother shopped.

After these few occasions and several others not mentioned, I wondered if this was a cultural thing. In the states this just does not happen. I don’t think that a single parent could let their child under the age of 10 run around busy, crowded streets alone. In the states all you have to do is go to Wal-Mart and observe what happens to a child if he/she were to run off. You would see the child get a spanking or told not to go off again.

Here in Korea its just away of life I am guessing. But to me I just don’t get it – it makes no sense to me. In Korea, a lot of the population walks, so maybe this is the reasoning behind letting little children roam the streets by themselves with only a cell phone in hand. I mean, other than going to school (which is what I assume or hope that they are doing) what else could these children be doing out? Are they shopping for themselves, feeding themselves? What is the reasoning behind this crazy way of teaching children to be independent? Or should we American’s be asking the Korean’s what they are doing to trust their children like this, because clearly we may be doing something wrong in the states. Or is our country more corrupt then Korea, so that the Koreans can trust their children in the public without supervision? These questions I hope to have figured out before I leave. However, no matter if it is that their way of teaching their children a way of life by letting children under 10 run around alone will continue to disturb me.

Adrian Westbrook