Middle School Student Assaults Teacher, Teacher Files Complaint... The Bottomless Decline of Teacher Authority

Offending Student's Parent Claims "Teacher Grabbed Collar and Assaulted," Alleges Mental Damage
Teacher Says "Under Treatment for a Month, Filed Lawsuit After No Payment for Medical Expenses and Agreement Breach"

A male student assaulted a teacher at a middle school in Gunsan, Jeonbuk, prompting the education authorities to launch an investigation. The teacher filed a complaint, claiming the perpetrator's side broke the agreement, while the student’s side is preparing a counter-complaint, citing mental distress.

The Jeonbuk Provincial Office of Education announced on the 21st that a third-year middle school student, A, at a school in Gunsan violently hit a contract teacher, B, in the face during class, and the facts are currently being investigated.

The incident began on the 9th of last month. During a special activity period, A suddenly entered the special room where a movie was being shown and called out a friend. Teacher B, who was in charge of the class, took A to the hallway and scolded him for disrupting the class. In response, A hit the teacher’s face multiple times with his fists and other means. Teacher B sustained injuries to his face, nose, jaw, forehead, teeth, and neck, received treatment at a nearby hospital, and was diagnosed with injuries requiring two weeks of recovery.

The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. Photo by Yonhap News.

Subsequently, the school held a teacher’s rights protection committee and a dispute mediation committee. At this meeting, the teacher demanded a formal apology, compensation of 3 million won for medical expenses and consolation money, and a return to normal work at the school. Both the student’s parents and the school agreed to the terms.

However, the perpetrator’s parents suddenly changed their stance, stating, "The teachers who attended the teacher’s rights protection committee and mediation committee unanimously insisted on our son’s fault, so we had no choice but to agree at the time." They further claimed, "The teacher left our son standing in the hallway for 20 minutes, verbally abused him, and grabbed his collar, so the assault was a counteraction, but he was unfairly labeled as the sole perpetrator."

Teacher B refuted this, saying, "My hands were in my pockets, so I could not have grabbed his collar, nor did I use any abusive language," and added, "I was indiscriminately hit six times in front of about ten students."

He continued, "The parents and the student said, ‘We are sorry, please forgive us this once,’ so we reached an agreement, but they unilaterally broke the agreement, and this morning I filed a complaint with the police for assault, attaching photos of my injuries."

As counter-complaints between the teacher and the student’s parents are anticipated, the school and the provincial education office plan to review the matter again. A representative from the education office told Yonhap News Agency, "The perpetrator is being subject to measures ranging from school service, suspension, transfer, to expulsion, depending on the severity, classified from levels 1 to 7," and explained, "However, severe disciplinary actions like transfer or expulsion are imposed only when the issue has been repeated multiple times."

The official added, "Most teachers believe the focus should be on education rather than punishment," and said, "I understand that the mediation in this case was conducted from that perspective."

Meanwhile, in the education sector, concerns are growing that violations of teachers’ rights are becoming increasingly serious, and urgent measures are needed to restore teacher authority.

According to statistics released by the Ministry of Education in September, cases of teacher rights violations nationwide in elementary, middle, and high schools were 2,454 in 2018, 2,662 in 2019, 1,197 in 2020, and 2,269 in 2021. The number sharply decreased in 2020 when COVID-19 first emerged but has been rising again.

The age of perpetrators of teacher rights violations is getting younger, and the severity of crimes is increasing. Among the 2,269 cases in 2021, 53.9% (1,222 cases) occurred in middle schools. High schools accounted for 803 cases (35.4%), followed by elementary schools with 216 cases (9.5%).

By type, insults and defamation were the most common with 1,215 cases (57.6%), followed by assault and battery with 229 cases (10.9%), and acts causing sexual humiliation or disgust with 205 cases (9.7%).

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