By Choi Tae-hwan

Two or three students are sitting on their chairs with their legs crossed. Two others are sitting with their bodies half turned while talking with students behind them. A few students are absentmindedly looking outside without any books, notebooks, or pencils on their desks.

About five students are drawing pictures or scribbling in their books, notebooks, or on their desks. They are all types of students, prone to what is called ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), who cannot even wait a few minutes before they start talking, even though they are repeatedly warned not to do so.

These are just some of the major flaws of students who exhibit an attention deficit in class. Do you think students who demonstrate the above characteristics in their words and actions can be classified as ``difficult" students? What do you think are the characteristics of difficult students?

In addition to the above behavioral traits, Lee & Marlene, in their book ``Succeeding with difficult students,'' claim that difficult students have a tendency to be disruptive, persistently defiant, demanding of attention or unmotivated.

They are likely to defy teachers' authority, cause teachers to be stressed out, frustrated, and angry not only because they have severe emotional or behavioral uneasiness but also because there is a possibility that they are born and brought up in a home environment where parents play little role in influencing or having control over their bad behavior or emotions.

Teachers' regular classroom management methodologies have little or no influence on the following types of misbehavior: intense or rude responses, talking back, constantly being off task, physically or verbally abusing teachers, provoking peers, insulting a teacher's appearance, violent behavior toward peers, being highly emotional, displaying a defiant attitude, continuous misbehavior, and non-stop talking.

It concluded that such disruptive behavior of just a few students in the classroom has the affect of interfering with teachers from instructing these students in a desirable way and in preventing other students from learning.

Needless to say, teachers make great effort to deal with such difficult students in and around school daily life, which often results in overwhelmed, frustrated, and burned out teachers. Unfortunately, the number of difficult students is rapidly increasing in this era of the nuclear family, individualization, and information and technology overload.

Consequently, teachers have a good reason to be frustrated due to the increasing number of disruptions in class caused by these students, as well as their consistent defying of teachers' best-intentioned efforts to instruct them.

Are difficult students born to be disruptive in their behavior and words? What causes them to act out their frustrations in this way?

A close examination of our society may shed some light on why difficult students misbehave. Who can deny the fact that the Korean family structure has changed rapidly within the past few decades from being a large family to a nuclear family?

The recent increase in the nuclear family is believed to have resulted in both abnormal family relationships and children's display of deviant behavior and attitudes at school.

We take it for granted that parents tend to be overprotective when they have only one or two children which, due to a lack of family education, often results in spoiled children, as it were, and difficult students at school.

In addition, Korea's exam-oriented school environment has caused our children to be lacking in family and society-oriented manners on the basis of self-centeredness and a ``me-first" mentality.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Korean nuclear family structure and test-oriented society has resulted in an increase in the number of difficult students and a bullying phenomenon in our classrooms.

How regrettable it is that Korean parents have driven their children into an exam-hell cram environment, believing that private education is the better policy to high school academic achievement rather than public education!

How can we deal effectively with difficult students in our school classroom, so that they can lead a normal school life as other students do?

More than anything, Korean parents should leave no stone unturned to get their family education back on the right track as soon as possible. Our children should be provided with parental guidance in order to improve their social skills, which are regarded as essential to be a productive member of society.

Because teachers naturally play a key role in instructing difficult students, they have to create a classroom environment to help difficult students reach their potential by building positive relationships with them and instructing them in social and self-management skills that will give them an opportunity to experience a more successful school life, higher self-esteem, and increased confidence.

As a result, teachers will be more confident in handling difficult students by being empowered to work successfully with them. This should have a positive effect on difficult students by helping to transform them into good students in proportion to teachers' efforts and confidence in managing them.

Let's all try to better understand our difficult students, their eccentric characteristics and the reasons why they act the way they do in our schools?

It must be borne in mind that a clear understanding and examination of the causes and effects of our difficult students will be a key to dealing with the seriousness of the problems they pose in our homes, schools, and in society. Let's help them to lead a normal and enjoyable school life as an example for the bright future of Korea.

The writer is an English teacher at Wolgye Middle School in Gwangju. He can be reached at cth0707@hanmail.net.