Something really serious happened when I was home for vacation. My friend Josh, who also volunteers at the orphanage told me that some of the older boys were caught with stolen money! Apparently each kid is given 5,000원 (about $5) each month as “allowance.” I’m sure it gets spent immediately on 컵라면 and other unhealthy snacks. But sometime during the summer break, a few of the older stole 500,000원 (about $500) from a man in the neighborhood. You might think that they would have tried to hide it really well, but money really burns holes in these kids’ pockets. So four kids split the money amongst themselves, the older ones threating the younger ones within an inch of their lives to keep silent. It wasn’t long before the staff got really curious about how these kids kept having money to buy things. The older boys wouldn’t talk. But one of the younger ones fessed up, and finally the truth came out. They now have to forgo their allowance until the debt is paid.It really represents a larger problem there. Things get stolen quite frequently. But usually, they steal from EACH OTHER. In Korean society, being a little bit older comes with some real tangible benefits. And the kids at the home squeeze everything they can get out of it. There are middle school and high school students on the second floor, above the elementary kids. They often exploit their seniority. Here is one conversation I witnessed about a cell phone. Remember that I said some kids have parents. Some parents have bought cell phones for their kids.

고등 학생: 전기 줘! Give me your cell phone battery! (they have the same model)
4학년 학생: 왜? Why?
고등 학생: 형! Because I am your big brother! (no blood relation, but since he’s older, he is 형)

So the kid gave up battery. And he might not have seen it again. I wouldn’t be surprised.

Last weekend a 5th grader told me how he used to have a Nintendo DS. I have no idea how he managed to have one of those, but he did. Once the older boys found out about it, it was gone. They stole it, and probably sold it online! The same thing happened last year with someone’s Playstation Portable. The older boys throw down the age card, and there is nothing the younger kids can do about it!

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