Safety and children and a general rant

Yesterday evening, I was looking out my kitchen window. What I can see is... a parking lot that leads to a busy street that runs parallel to the water. There are a few small fish markets on the other side of the road.

I leaned out my window and watched a family leaving the church next to my apartment building. Picture a mom, 2 kids, and a toddler wandering on ahead... The Mom and other kids are still about 10 metres behind the little guy, who has continued walking until he is standing about 1/3 of the way onto the near lane of the street.

In my mind, I am willing the woman (who *is* looking at her child) to call the kid back... to say, "Wait for us"... or to at least react as car after car slows, honks, and edges past the little boy. Suddenly, he breaks into a run.

He obviously didn't see the car coming the other direction. I've used to wonder what the term "sickening thud" might sound like in real life. From my vantage point, I watch the child run directly into the car, then crumple on the ground. I scream, "Oh my GOD!" and Ty runs to the window to see what's going on.

The car's driver slows and stops (causing, of course, the other cars behind him to honk... haven't they seen what just happened?).

The little boy stands up, and continues his run across the street.

He is joined by the Mom, his siblings or friends. They crowd around him. After what feels like 10 minutes (probably only 2), the family gets into the car that hit the little boy and drive off. On one hand, I am relieved... the man who drove into the boy (NOT his fault) is being a Good Samaritan and bringing them to get help. On the other hand, I also know that head and brain injuries do not immediately manifest themselves, and I am hoping against hope that the little boy is okay.

On this blog, I have generally been careful not to be over-critical of Korean culture. I may complain about the food, or state the facts of a school system that is so hard on the students... but these are, for the most part, observations.

But now, I am honestly wondering: Do Koreans hate children? I've seen enough kids standing up on the back seats of cars, or with their heads poking out of sunroofs. I've heard about the difficulties of other ex-pats who have had children here, and how they can't get safety certified car seats here, as most infants here are still carried on their mother's laps or backs in cars. I've watched kindergarteners carrying Exacto knives, and watched children with special needs be handed adult sized scissors, when they could barely handle a pencil. I've seen child after child at my school come in with a myriad of injuries (yes, including being hit by a car) caused by a general neglectful view of personal safety. It's quite normal for an entire class of students to be left unattended while the teacher attends "meetings" ~ a few months ago, I was the first person to intervene when a 4th grader put his foot through a window, leaving a jagged shard of glass poking out or his ankle. My school found me odd when I refused to have a ridiculous gas-powered, open-flamed heater brought into my classroom. Last week, when my classroom door lock was replaced, the custodian laughed when I asked him to do it again, as there were long rusty nails poking through the door at eye-height for a child.

Say what you will about North Americans being "too safe" or "paranoid" and then tell me if you would let your child run across a busy street without you... without holding your hand, or without at least knowing to look both ways. You know, accidents do happen... we all have battle scars from our childhoods (I even had a memorable run-in with a BBQ flame) but it doesn't mean that you need to stop doing everything in your power, as a parent, as a teacher, as a responsible adult, to prevent these accidents from becoming daily occurances.