Student Reporters

2016년 5월 9일 월요일

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Nobody Knows the 1988 Olympics

The opening ceremony of the 1988 Summer Olympics took place in South Korea

Source: Ken Hackman US Air Force

The Summer Olympics of 1988 took place in Seoul South Korea These Olympics marked a few important moments in history: it was the first time the Olympics took place on mainland Asia as well as the final time that now non-existent countries like East Germany and the Soviet Union competed 159 nations were represented by 8391 athletes making the 1988 Olympics a success Behind this international success however lies a

darker story In the couple decades before the Olympics took place the South Korean government rounded up all of the vagrants mostly children and the disabled but also including the homeless and drunk and forced them into the Brothers Home where about 4000 people were held prisoner out of the 16000 total vagrants taken These vagrants were imprisoned in an attempt to purify the streets as South

Korea was still considered a developing country at the time and the government wanted to have recognition as a modern country The police often rounded up vagrants on pretenses of forced confessions to crimes they didnt commit At the Brothers Home the vagrants were forced to work without pay and the products made were sold internationally They were also subject to beatings and many people died as a result of the conditions at Brothers Im actually very angry and ashamed by the fact that our government did that hideous crime said Korean citizen George Kim a freshman at Valencia High School when asked by JSR I really feel sorry for the victims of this occurrence Huffington Post author Foster Klug found an interview between the Associated Press (AP) and a management official at Brothers Home Young Soon Lim in which Lim stated these were people who would have died in the streets anyway Lims statement shows the brutal justification for the camps causing numerous deaths that were in general unnecessary The facilities officially documented 513 deaths but according to Klug most others

Violence Is Never the Answer Every single teenager in the Santa Clarita Valley took his or her anger and frustration to Twitter on April 21st the day a special needs student was assaulted at West Ranch High School This brawl shocked the whole school the whole Santa Clarita Valley and even the state Although the purpose of the fight remains unknown on the day of the fight the assaulter and the victim began arguing

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and soon punches began flying In the photos and videos of the event some students can be seen in the background filming while others can be seen laughing But none of them attempted to intervene between the two students The video quickly became viral on social media and people began writing lengthy paragraphs expressing concern for the victim Many created hashtags such as: #justicefor

(victims name) Students at West Ranch High School also came together for the greater good by wearing black the next day in support of the special needs student When school started the day after the fight students had surrounded the entire school in an attempt to show support for the victim and defended him from the assaulter Although lowerclassmen and upperclassmen generally do not mingle the event

agree that the real death count was much higher Throughout the years the South Korean government has managed to hide the stories surrounding the Brothers Home as is evidenced by the governments blockage of a lawmakers wish to revisit a Brothers case Obviously since the government is remaining silent on the matter there is no real question of whether it will provide compensation any time soon However on an international scale South Koreas inhumane actions are merely one of many There are a large number of incidences in which modern countries have committed acts of horror including Britains concentration camps for the Kenyans Russias (at the time the Soviet Union) prison massacres and most notably the United States?bombing of Dresden The bombing of Dresden like South Koreas vagrant roundup is not well known Dresden a capital of a state of Germany was largely uninvolved with World War II but the Allies of the US and Great Britain dropped a total of about 3900 tons of explosives on the city according to Historycom The incident was felt by many as unnecessary to the outcome

of the war mainly because the Allies were already almost guaranteed victory over Germany at the time With an estimated 35000-135000 people dead including American prisoners of war US attempted to defend itself by claiming Dresden housed factories communications and transport necessary for the German war effort According to History com other critics though found that Dresden had no military significance and that the US had bombed indiscriminately more or less leaving Dresden leveled The events of the bombing of Dresden among others prove that there seems to be no country that has not reached goals without a few stains Even though many other countries committed atrocities said Kim I still dont believe that Korea was justified in doing what they did There is no way to fully recompense them as its impossible to fully repay for someones life

united the entire student body of WRHS West Ranch students have stated that this protest was not only for the victim but also for anyone else who may be experiencing the same problem West Ranch freshman Jay Kim said this event showed us that violence is never the answer for any of our problems It was certainly amazing seeing the school come together to support (victims name) No student deserves to be beaten up regardless of the type of education they are

currently receivingsaid West Ranch Sophomore Scott Kim According to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department the instigator of the fight has been arrested This tragic occurrence reminds us that violence is never a proper solution to any problem

Jino Chough Grade 10 Hart High School

Christian Sim Grade 10 West Ranch High School

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