There are various places where parents take their children to educate them about charitable giving. (image: Incheon Nambu Fire Station)
SEOUL, April 21 (Korea Bizwire) — At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, students are not receiving regular education from school.
Instead, there are number of reported cases where parents have educated their children on the value of sharing and charitable donations.
A nine-year-old female elementary school student living in Yeonsu District in Incheon, just west of Seoul, recently visited a local community service center with her mother and donated a piggy bank, 15 masks and hand sanitizer.
In a handwritten letter, the girl said, “It is only a small amount of money I collected while doing chores, but with this money, I want you to help those who really need a mask.”
Another similar case was reported.
An 11-year-old elementary school student living in Bupyeong District in the same city also visited a community service center with his mother on March 25 to donate 100 masks, 200 latex gloves and 86 portable disinfection tissues.
Mother and son are known to have bought quarantine supplies with child care allowances and pocket money from New Year’s.
Meanwhile, an eight-year-old male elementary school student living in Yeonsu District recently visited a patrol division near his home and donated five masks and groceries such as dried laver and ramen (instant noodle).
Inspired by the boy’s good deeds, police staff also added extra money to purchase other goods and delivered them to the underprivileged elderly in the region.
There are various places where parents take their children to educate them about charitable giving, including local community service centers, 119 safety centers (fire stations), patrol divisions and community health centers.
“Charitable donations from young children can be seen as the fruit of parents’ wise handling of the COVID-19 incident,” said Park Joo-ho, a professor at Hanyang University.
“Such life-oriented education is all the more necessary in a Korean society that relies heavily on regular education, which focuses on entrance exams,” he stressed.
D. M. Park (dmpark@koreabizwire.com)
