Editorial Making school friendlier for students By Andrew Ham and Diana Nakyoung Lee Co-Editors-in-Chief
Although Seoul International School devotes significant attention to maintaining and improving the academic and emotional health of its students, its physical student spaces are largely cold, crowded, and uncomfortable. In terms of infrastructure (couches, benches, and lounges) SIS does not have a distinct student-oriented feel because it is highly sectionalized and populated with non-functional cultural antiques. In fact, student spaces do exist, but the “senior lounge” feels more like a conference space or airport seating area than an inviting place for high school students. These spots may be student spaces, but they could be infinitely better at communicating a sense of inclusion, positive school culture, and belonging. While colorless walls and pale, wan floors hung with artifacts communicate a sense of orderliness and gravitas, it also feels anemic and bare to the common teen. At the very least, it feels more like we are guests walking through a museum of antiquities, rather than students strolling through their beloved, soon to be alma mater. For example, we have exhibits dedicated to African and Native American cultures on the basement floor. While we appreciate the attempt at displaying diversity, the display case lacks context and only highlights the absence of such ethnic variety in our student body. Perhaps we could dedicate the space to the manifold gifts and talents exhibited by our student body instead. As members of Tiger Times and friends of the Yearbook staff, we know that there are so many caches of high-quality, dynamic photos of soccer games, music recitals, and even forensics tournaments waiting to be shown off to the rest of the community. If we could create a student committee to perhaps design engaging, timely, and relevant posters of school activities so that we could display them with pride, we surely could create spaces that serve not just to display, but also connect our students. This issue may seem trivial but its emotional impacts are far-reaching and evident. We think that the lack of student spaces and overt pride in student achievement makes it more difficult for a collaborative, supportive environment to exist at SIS. To unify the school community and foster a culture of cooperation and mutual support, we need a physical environment that persistently celebrates achievements, motivates students, and presents a friendly atmosphere--one way we can do this is by showcasing student successes, with photos of school events in the display cases that have held traditional Korean artifacts not exactly connected to the SIS curriculum. Our campus, simply put, feels emotionally detached. One simple step forward can be to support the discussed HSSC idea of furnishing the space in front of Cartnivore with comfortable furniture, such as beanbags and couches, and decorating it with student work. In the long run, a wider array of student groups, coupled with perhaps the counseling office or the leadership team, can set forth a more strategic and well-supported set of design and redecoration initiatives that will make SIS more comfortable and student-friendly. Let yourself be heard. If you have any responses to articles published in the Tiger Times or original contributions, please send them to tigertimes@gmail.com
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VIEWPOINT
Korean hip hop serves as a problematic appropriation In recent years, South Korea has seen the solidification of hip-hop in mainstream pop culture. The movement has been aided and abetted by the increasing popularity in hip hop based reality television programs such as Show Me the Money, which is set for its seventh season this summer, and High School Rapper, the youth counterpart to Show Me The Money that is currently garnering widespread media attention. Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock for the past few years has felt this craze. As for myself, I have followed the movement almost religiously. However, I have also noticed a glaring problematic nature within this budding culture. Some call it appropriation. I see it more as a cultural detachment that keeps Koreans who actively engage in this movement oblivious to what their mannerisms actually entail. Whatever you decide to call it, the offense is clear: Korean hip hop attempts to emulate the aggressive, started-from-the-bottom mindset exuded from Western hip hop in a superficial way, ignorant of the cultural austerity that justifies it. To truly understand this issue, one must look back to the origin of hip hop, and where many of its intricacies derive. The musical genre originated in the 1970s within the heart of South Bronx, in communities razed by drugs, poverty, and crime. Such communities epitomize the original identity of the movement; rappers like 21 Savage don’t just rap
about death, they grew up watching people get shot to death. They spit out their frustration with the fierce realities of their locality through music: how much they suffered, how they survived, how dangerous they are. There are no drugs, no guns, no “ghettos” like the Bronx in Korea. Most South Korean rappers, especially the high school students on High School Rapper, receive allowances from parents and a proper education. Most likely, they fell in love with hip hop not as a coping mechanism in a life surrounded by crime and poverty, but as a hobby through the internet. So when I see Korean rappers flashing gang signs or firing finger guns the same way a rapper from Compton would, I get the feeling that there is a context-practice mismatch. Such rappers as a collective try to recreate ghetto music from the US without having a space to call a ghetto. Therefore, when anger-fueled lyrics are ushered in without a purpose, the spirit of the text is mutilated. Only superficial signifiers remain alive as a musical style and cliche. On the other side of things, it’s important to note that this issue is not just localized in Korea; there is a big issue of appropriation all over the world – even in the states itself. A classic example: Rick Ross attempted to solidify himself as a crime kingpin in Miami, only to be revealed as a former corrections officer with good behavior – a contradicting persona to who Ross was touting him-
self to be. However, when instances of problematic appropriation occur in the States, thanks to a general understanding of the harsh culture that birthed hip hop, such actions are generally quickly deterred and shut down. Such check and balance mechanisms aren’t really present in Korea. Koreans as a collective may not be aware of the implications of a culture on the other side of the planet, so they find it acceptable to copy-paste overarching themes and motifs of American hip hop without consideration to what it might represent. That is not to say, in any capacity, that Koreans should not continue pursuing the culture of hip hop in their own individualized way. There are plenty of Korean rappers that have adapted hip-hop to fit their own unique context and issue. A prime example is Drunken Tiger, whose songs, such as Beautiful Life, often advocate mental health awareness and suicide prevention – problems endemic in South Korean society. However, in a general sense, it is becoming increasingly clear that more of those who get directly involved in this trend need to make a more conscious effort to understand the culture. Especially as Korean hip hop is beginning to be consumed on an international basis, the pioneers of the movement need to be mindful of understanding the culture they are adapting. By Jeremy Nam Junior, Copy Editor
Enough is enough, America: no more guns
#NeverAgain. This is the motto of the anti-gun rallies that arose across the United States after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14. The movement is distinct from past efforts that also resulted from school shootings such as Sandy Hook Elementary School and Columbine High School. With survivors from the Parkland shooting initiating the call for change, the movement has spread across the country, led by teenagers demanding an end to such tragedies through firearm regulations. The past decades have been filled with repeated protests on gun control and a lack of action: finally, it is now time for politicians to answer the plea of the next generation. Soon after the Parkland shooting, various companies have complied with certain requests of protestors. Dick’s Sporting Goods has announced that it will not allow people under the age of 21 to purchase guns despite local laws. Other large corporations such as Walmart and Kroger soon followed suit with similar restrictions. It is clear that companies are also increasingly feeling the societal
pressure to move in the direction of embracing the anti-gun stance. Despite the importance of politicians in executing changes in regulations of gun control, the greater problem surrounds the nature of social movements as temporary reactionary events. Restrictions on gun laws and the second amendment are issues that have been brought up since the first school shooting of the modern era, at Columbine High School. After every shooting following Columbine, the same debate on the topic of gun control has repeatedly been brought to the table. Every time, the people protest and a surge of enthusiasm supports the movement out of sympathy, and then the issue soon dies down. How much tangible change has been observed since Columbine? Nothing. As time goes on, the shootings and their results will have to be more extreme and sensational to invoke a response from the public. The prevalence of school shootings has led to unintended desensitization in the American society. People seem to forget that aside from the mass shootings that appear on the news
every now and then, a small-scale school shooting occurs every week somewhere in the country. It is now time for the seemingly never-ending cycle to stop. Now is precisely the time to allow the next generation to become builders of their future. The school walkouts on Mar. 14 demonstrated the determination, strength, and leadership the country’s future holds, as nearly one million students engaged in peaceful protests. Many of the students who part took in the walkouts did so while taking the risk of receiving disciplinary action or punishments from their schools. Their collective voice and willingness to express their political opinions represent the prospects of America’s future. Lawmakers and politicians must recognize this often overlooked, but significant part of the population. Before another child gets shot at school, or the Parkland shooting is forgotten, the American society must see change. May the students be heard, may their future change: #NeverAgain. By Hannah Kim Junior, Staff Writer