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(May 11, 2011 )<U.S. Mission Educates Authoritarian Korean Dads >

U.S. Mission Educates Authoritarian Korean Dads Traditionally authoritarian Korean immigrant men attend Father School in the U.S. to be better dads, the International Herald Tribune reported Monday. Father School was started at the Duranno Bible College in Seoul in 1995, and nearly 200,000 men have passed through its portals worldwide so far.

Since it started in the U.S. in 2000, Father School has established itself in 57 American cities. The program has popular because it is tailored to meet the needs of Korean immigrant fathers dealing with conflict with family members. Americanized kids often wondered "why their fathers weren't more like the touchy-feely dads they watched on TV," the IHT reported.

Its aim, according to the organization's guidebook, is to combat "the growing national epidemic of abusive, ineffective and absentee fathers."

Seventy Korean men attended four recent five-hour sessions of Father School in Artesia, California. Participants wrote letters to break away from a vague sense of confidence that they are good fathers and look at themselves objectively, a school staffer said.

They also learned how to renew their relationship with their wives. Just as they had learned at the school, participants said to their wives, "I love you" and asked them out on a date. One said his wife "was so flabbergasted by the invitation that she refused to go," according to the daily.

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