Students pass notes. This seems to be almost universal across cultures – at least cultures with literacy. Sometimes my students write notes on tiny scraps of paper and wad them up and throw them across to whomever they’re trying to communicate with. If they get caught, they’re getting caught throwing paper (a minor offense, and unembarrassing) rather than passing notes (a potentially more hazardous infraction, depending on what’s in the note).
When I catch students passing notes, I will intercept the little balls of paper. This makes them worried, but I rarely do anything with the paper except perhaps study them as linguistic objects. You see, one can learn interesting bits of Korean Language for a note where you understand the social context.
I have a group of 6th graders that recently seem to have discovered the opposite sex. And they are always joking and blushing and showing off and giggling and doing what awkward adolescents will do. And they write and pass notes, too.
I intercepted a note a while back and glanced at it after class and laughed at it, and then I put it on my desk and forgot about it. I rediscovered it today. The note said, in tiny barely legible handwriting, “너 ~~~ 좋아하지?” (Do you like ~~~? – where ~~~ is someone’s name, best left unuttered on the internet in unicode).
It was written by girl A, to boy B, about other girl C.
My observation? Duh. Boy B sits and stares at girl C, moon-eyed. It’s all very cute.
