Teacher: "Not students, principals, or the National Assembly, but parents are stressed"

Korea Teachers Federation, Nationwide Urgent Survey of Educators
99% of Teachers Say "I Am an Emotional Laborer"

A survey revealed that teachers feel the most stress from parents, rather than students or principals. Nine out of ten teachers supported recording 'teacher rights violation incidents' in the school life records.

On the afternoon of the 24th, a teacher is seen in sorrow at a meeting held at the Korean Federation of Trade Unions building in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, between the Ministry of Education and the Teachers' Labor Union Federation to protect teachers' educational activities.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 27th, the Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations announced the results of an 'Urgent Survey on Awareness and Measures for Teacher Rights Violations' conducted from the 25th to 26th among 32,951 teachers nationwide from kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools. The survey included teachers as well as principals and vice principals.

Teachers identified parents (66.1%) as the 'main source of stress.' Teachers who responded 'students' accounted for 25.3%, followed by 2.9% who said 'principals and vice principals,' 2.5% who said 'educational administrative agencies, National Assembly, etc.,' and 1.2% who said 'colleague teachers.'

The primary cause of stress was 'student guidance' (46.5%), followed by 'complaints' (32.3%) and 'fear of child abuse reporting' (14.6%).

Most teachers recognized themselves as 'emotional laborers.' The percentage of respondents who 'agree' or 'strongly agree' with the statement 'Teachers are emotional laborers' reached 99% of all respondents.

The majority of teachers (93.4%) responded "support" when asked about including specific content in the Ministry of Education's upcoming student guidance regulations that would allow teachers to concretely manage problematic student behavior.

Additionally, 93.3% answered that "the procedures for separating or suspending teachers based solely on child abuse reports need to be improved."

On the afternoon of July 21, mourners are paying tribute to homeroom teacher Mr. A at Seoi Elementary School in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

When asked if they had experienced difficulties due to students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or borderline disorders, 54.5% of teachers answered 'very often,' and 32.3% answered 'often,' reflecting the challenges in the field.

Meanwhile, young teachers belonging to the Korea Federation of Teachers' Associations 2030 Youth Committee held a press conference in front of the National Assembly on the same day regarding the death of a teacher at Seo-i Elementary School. They said, "We no longer want to lose fellow teachers," and urged the government and National Assembly to take action for practical measures to restore teacher rights and enact legislation to protect teacher rights.

They emphasized, "The daily life of teachers is like a game of Russian roulette. We fear who will be targeted next by bullets such as refusal of student guidance, verbal abuse, assault, malicious complaints from parents, and indiscriminate child abuse reports," calling for urgent countermeasures.

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