This Time, Suspicion of Illegal Filming... What to Do About Repeated 'Gyogwon Infringement'

'Teacher Rights Violations' 11,148 Cases Over 5 Years... Over 2,000 Cases Annually
Increase in Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence Crimes 7.9% in 2018 → 12.7% in 2020

Since the transition to face-to-face classes, cases of infringement on teachers' rights have increased, raising concerns not only about teachers' educational activities but also about the violation of other students' right to learn.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Since the transition to face-to-face classes, cases of teacher rights violations have increased, raising concerns about classroom disruption. Incidents such as the illegal filming of parts of a female teacher's body have occurred, escalating from teacher rights violations to sexual crimes. Since problematic behavior in the classroom can infringe not only on teachers' educational activities but also on other students' right to learn, teacher organizations emphasize the urgent need to establish a Student Guidance Act.

In Gwangju, police launched an investigation after a report that a high school student illegally filmed parts of a female teacher's body. According to the Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangju on the 21st, A (18), a third-year student at a private high school in Gwangju, is suspected of secretly filming parts of a female teacher's body using his mobile phone for over a year, from the second semester of last year until recently. About 150 photos and videos were found on A's phone, and it was revealed that he illegally filmed female teachers not only in his own classroom but also in mobile class groups (elective subjects) using the same method.

A reportedly committed the crime by turning on the video recording function on his phone and placing it at the edge under the teacher's desk. The police have confiscated A's phone and are investigating. The school recently held a teacher rights protection committee and imposed severe disciplinary action, expelling A.

Earlier, in Hongseong, Chungnam, a controversy over teacher rights violations arose after a video circulated showing a middle school student seemingly filming a teacher lying on the podium during class with a mobile phone.

The incident became known after a 12-second video was posted on social networking services (SNS) on the 26th, showing a male student lying on the podium and apparently filming a female teacher during class with a mobile phone. In the video, the teacher focused on the class without responding to the student's behavior, and other students did not stop him. Voices of male students in the classroom saying, "Let's go for 500 this time," and "Is this the right behavior?" along with laughter were also heard.

The police, investigating the illegal filming suspicion, conducted digital forensics on the students' phones and confirmed that the female teacher was not filmed, resulting in a decision not to prosecute. The education office did not disclose the specific disciplinary actions taken against the three students, citing student rights and personal information protection, but it is known that three middle school students were disciplined.

Since the transition to face-to-face classes, cases of infringement on teachers' rights have increased, raising concerns not only about teachers' educational activities but also about the violation of other students' right to learn.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Such teacher rights violations have totaled 11,148 cases over the past five years, averaging over 2,000 cases annually. According to the Ministry of Education, the number of incidents involving interference with educational activities by students and parents increased from 2,454 cases in 2018 to 2,662 in 2019, then sharply dropped to 1,197 in 2020 due to COVID-19. However, with the increase in face-to-face classes last year, the number surged again to 2,269.

Notably, the proportion of sexual harassment and sexual violence crimes among student teacher rights violations increased by 4.8 percentage points (p) from 7.9% in 2018 to 12.7% last year over the past three years. According to data on 'Educational Activity Interference Status' submitted to Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Deuk-gu by the Ministry of Education last year, the share of 'acts causing sexual humiliation or disgust' and 'sexual violence crimes' among all teacher rights violation cases was 7.9% (180 cases) in 2018, 9.4% (229 cases) in 2019, and 12.7% (137 cases) in 2020.

Statistics also show that 61% of teachers nationwide experience problematic student behavior such as verbal abuse, class disruption, and unauthorized classroom departure at least once a day. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations (President Jeong Seong-guk) from July 12 to 24 targeting 8,655 teachers from kindergarten to high school nationwide, 61.3% answered that they encounter problematic student behavior five or more times a week when asked, "How many times a week do you encounter problematic student behavior?"

The most common type of problematic behavior was typical class disruption such as "talking loudly or making noise" (26.8%). This was followed by "aggressive behavior such as verbal abuse" (22.8%), "unauthorized departure from classroom or school" (12.7%), "doubting or continuously arguing with the teacher" (8.1%), "using digital devices during class" (7.9%), and "sleeping during class" (7.9%). Due to this, 95.0% of respondents said that the infringement on students' right to learn and teachers' rights was 'serious' (69.0% very serious, 26.0% serious).

However, teachers currently lack appropriate measures to respond immediately to problematic student behavior. Although the Teacher Status Act allows the relevant education office to report students or parents to investigative agencies if teachers' educational activities are infringed upon, its effectiveness is criticized as low. When asked whether the current Teacher Status Act contributes to protecting teacher rights, 78.7% responded negatively.

With growing concerns about classroom collapse, teacher organizations are demanding strengthened authority for student guidance. They argue that measures are needed to immediately discipline students who disrupt classes to ensure teachers' educational activities and students' right to learn are protected.

Legislation to strengthen student guidance has also been proposed. In August, Lee Tae-gyu, a member of the People Power Party, introduced a partial amendment bill to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and a special law to improve teachers' status and protect educational activities. The bill specifies teachers' authority for student guidance in educational activities and establishes disciplinary measures such as recording actions taken against disruptive students in their student records.

On the 5th, lawmaker Kang also proposed an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Kang emphasized, "This bill aims to protect the learning rights of all students while ensuring teachers' educational rights to create a happy school environment. Not only the passage of this amendment guaranteeing teachers' student guidance activities for education is necessary, but also measures to fundamentally resolve the issues of students in psychological crisis are needed."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.