Cultural Difference - Child Abuse / Child Neglect

Last week, I was talking with a Korean friend of mine. She told me a story like this:

"Sara, did you hear about the news last week? In America, there was a man that was a preacher at a church. One morning, he had to go to a meeting very early and his young child was still sleeping. So he left his child at home sleeping while he went to the meeting. Later, while the man was at the meeting, the child woke up and was crying and couldn't find his parents. So the child went outside and was crying and looking around for his parents, then a neighbor saw him and called the police. Isn't that surprising?"

Let me pause my story to reference the story she was talking about.

After she told me the story, I was feeling a bit shocked as well...but as I thought about further discussion with her, I knew we would have different reasons for being surprised at this story.

So I asked her, "Which part of the story is surprising to you? That the man left his child home alone, or that the neighbor called the police when they found the child?"

And this is where the cultural difference comes into this story. For me, an American with Western beliefs, the shocking part of the story was that the man left his young child at home alone while he went to church. For her, a Korean with Eastern beliefs, the shocking part of the story was that the neighbor called the police and ultimately, the parents were arrested.

I tried to explain to her that in America, there are many different reason we might call the police in this situation, i.e. someone could have snatched the kid, the parents could have been neglecting the kid, etc. Still she was quite in shock that this story even happened and that it made it's way all that way to CNN in Korea. (I'm pretty sure it aired because the couple in the story is Korean.)

All of this being said, I thought it was a good time to discuss the cultural difference regarding child abuse/neglect in Korea and America. I first learned about this a few months ago when I was talking with a co-worker of mine. I asked her if there is such a thing as child abuse in Korea. She looked at me a little funny and told me that isn't a matter that is dealt with by officials in Korea. From my understanding after our conversation, Korea views child abuse and likes as a private home matter and they won't intervene on issues like that. To me, of course, I was completely shocked...especially after having a friend that works for CPS in Texas and knowing how often officials must intervene with this stuff at home.

Do I still think Korea is a much safer place that America? Definitely! Do I think abuse happens in Korea even though it isn't reported? Of course! Will I continue to find cultural differences in Korea and America no matter how long I'm here? For sure!