Teacher with Arm Cast Due to Student Assault... Education Office Says "Write the Complaint by Hand"

Teacher Diagnosed with "3 Weeks Off" After Assaulting Elementary Student
"Demanded to Rewrite Already Submitted Complaint by Hand"

A teacher at an elementary school in Seoul was assaulted by a student in her class and received a medical diagnosis requiring three weeks of treatment. However, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has sparked controversy by demanding that the teacher personally write the complaint letter. At the time of the assault, the teacher had a cast on her hand due to the injury.

The husband of the victim, Teacher A, stated in an interview with SBS on the 6th, "The lawyer had already prepared the complaint letter, but (the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education) insisted that it must be handwritten by the teacher herself."

A teacher at an elementary school in Seoul was assaulted by a 6th-grade male student, resulting in a three-week medical diagnosis including a cast on the arm.
[Image source=SBS News broadcast screen]

Previously, the School Authority Protection Committee requested the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on the 20th of last month to file a complaint with the investigative authorities against B, a 6th-grade student who was the perpetrator. According to current law, the education office is the official complainant.

However, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education recently asked Teacher A’s side to resubmit the complaint letter detailing the acts and reasons for the complaint in a handwritten format, following the journalistic questions principle (who, what, when, where, why, how). Teacher A’s side explained that due to the cast on her right arm from the assault, it was physically impossible to write by hand, but this was not accepted.

Teacher A’s legal representative pointed out, "This is not a procedure conducted by the victim teacher herself, but a separate process carried out by the competent authority as a third party, yet it is not progressing."

In response, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education stated, "It is true that we requested a handwritten complaint letter because we judged that supplementation such as the teacher’s signature was necessary, but we have decided to accept the previously submitted documents instead," adding, "We apologize for any inconvenience caused as we proceeded carefully."

Earlier, on June 30, Teacher A was assaulted by B, a student under her charge, in the classroom and sustained injuries requiring three weeks of treatment. B was known to be a student with emotional and behavioral disabilities attending a special class. After Teacher A’s victimization became known through online communities, more than 10,000 petitions from teachers demanding severe punishment for B were submitted both online and offline.

The elementary school held a School Authority Protection Committee meeting on the 19th of last month and decided to transfer B to another school and impose 12 hours of special education as disciplinary action. The parents of B were also ordered to undergo 5 hours of special education. Since elementary and middle schools are part of the compulsory education system under relevant laws, expulsion is practically impossible. Therefore, transfer is the most severe disciplinary action for elementary and middle school students.

Meanwhile, on the 1st, Teacher A filed a lawsuit against B’s parents demanding approximately 31.9 million KRW in compensation for medical expenses and mental damages.

Teacher A’s legal representative stated, "This lawsuit is not simply because of a single assault. Every time the student committed violence, the parents were informed, but they showed no intention to improve the child’s behavior and neglected to discipline him. We filed the lawsuit because we judged that the parents failed to fulfill their supervisory responsibilities over the student."

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