CCTV: Korea's Big Brother

Written by Bessie about Korea, Republic of. Feelin' normal

Talking with elementary school kids at our school, they'd all swear CCTV is a Korean word. Even though Korean looks like this: 시작 and English looks like this: CCTV. When Kyle told his students that CCTV was in fact English and stands for Closed Circuit Television, they might have been slightly devastated.

CCTV sign in our elevator; my 4th graders - your moms might be watching us right now...

Why is CCTV such a big deal, you wonder? Well, it's totally engrained in Korean culture. Tiny little "spy cameras" are all over the place, and it's totally normal. They're in all sorts of public places: streets, stores, etc., not too strange, but according to one of Kyle's high school students, the reason we never see police in Korea is that CCTV is everywhere. No one even tries to steal or do anything bad, because you'd be on video. When people lock up their bikes, they only lock the tire - which is insane because they're easy to pop off, versus in Chicago where I literally had 3 locks on my bike.

you call this locking up a bike?! I guess when in Rome...

Weirdest for us as English Teachers is that all of our classrooms are under surveillance all the time. All the little cameras feed to a tv screen in the lobby of our school, and parents are welcome to watch their child's class, about any time they feel like it.

camera in the corner of my classroom; cameras feeding into the lobby

"I've got the feeling like, somebody's watchin' me"
A few times a week a group will gather around the flat screen tv in the lobby of our school, and Korean discussion ensues. Parents point and stare at the tv. Teachers wave their arms as they explain what's going on.

I don't really understand the intensity to which Korean mothers take to watching their kids while in class, but its fitting in that Korean mothers take their kids' education very seriously. One of my supervisors saw a few moms pull up chairs in front the screen and stare at it so intently that she offered them popcorn. I doubt they found that very funny.

just pull up a chair and grab some popcorn, it's kid watching time!

You can see me, and I unfortunately can see you.
Last week was the first time that my kindergarten class got "watched". It wouldn't be such a big deal, I've sort of gotten used to the idea of cameras all over the place, but I have this window in my classroom that looks perfectly out to the lobby.

So as my student's mom pulled the large picture of my class up on the screen, I could see it all going on. It went on for at least 45 minutes, much of which the mom & 2 or 3 staff from the school were all talking about us and pointing at the screen. Talk about awkard... You could just come in if you want. I hear they can also get the audio, although I haven't heard that happen yet. Maybe next time.

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July 22, 2009 Kristine: Sweet! Can you hook this up to the internet so WE can watch you all the time too??? :) I miss seeing your smiling faces!

July 22, 2009 Alex: I am SO glad that my school is far too cheap for this. However, my elevator and lobby are equipped.

July 23, 2009 Seth: I'm sure the cctv prevents some crime, but don't forget about the twelve to fourteen hours every day the high school kids spend studying. They just don't have time to do the stupid stuff we American kids had time to do.

July 24, 2009 Rose P.: THAT'S INCREDIBLE!!

July 24, 2009 Linda: "Wow"....is the first word that comes to mind.....followed by "Good grief." As a human being, whether it be a child or an adult, I cannot imagine going through a whole day in which there wasn't some behavior that would fall into the catagory of "private moment." Hopefully, the camera are not in the washrooms! On the other hand, when I was teaching, I would have loved to have had parents observe their child's "normal" behavior to help them believe what we had discussed at a parent conference. Parents were always welcome to sit and observe class, but their "darlings" were usually on their best behavior. Cameras, in the right circumstances, might be the answer?? Something to ponder.

July 24, 2009 DADDIO: When you need A LITTLE PRIVACY simply tape a piece of paper over the lens of the camera and play dumb about it!!! :>} :>}

August 17, 2009 mumsie: What a stitch, Bess, that you can see when you're being seen! :P

June 30, 2010 GRRRL TRAVELER: I've been wondering what's up with those signs-- they are literally EVERYWHERE or at least the signs are. There must be a career industry build around it-- the people behind the CCTV. Have you ever discovered more about why that is and what's the limits of them?

June 30, 2010 Kyle: Shame is a big deal in Korea, so I think the idea is that if you are on TV all the time, you'll never do anything shameful. When I've talked to people about the lack of crime in Korea, they point to the CCTVs and say that nobody wants to be seen breaking the law.

CCTV: Korea's Big Brother

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