Seoicho Elementary School Teacher Sends Complaint Texts to Over 10 Parents Saying "I Am Sorry" Repeatedly

Seoul Teachers' Union Releases HiTalk Messages of Seoi Elementary School Teachers

It has been confirmed that a teacher at Seoul Seoi Elementary School, who took their own life last month, received complaint messages via the work messenger app (HiTalk) from multiple parents during the first semester of this year.

The Seoul Teachers' Union disclosed on the 16th the HiTalk messages of teacher A from Seoi Elementary School, provided by the bereaved family, covering the period from March 6 to July 14. According to the union's report, about 10 out of 26 parents of the entire class sent messages to teacher A via HiTalk, appealing that "our child was teased or assaulted, so please check."

[Image source=Seoul Teachers Union, Yonhap News]

One parent sent a HiTalk message saying, "I do not want to file a formal report, but I am worried because there seems to be little willingness to improve. They are not even playing together, but the continuous touching and unpleasant words seem to strictly fall under school violence. I wonder if the other parent is aware of this and is disciplining their child."

In response to the parents' complaints, teacher A repeatedly said things like "I will call you," "I failed to notice," and "I am sorry."

The HiTalk messages also showed that the parent of the offending student involved in the so-called 'pencil incident' exchanged multiple messages and phone calls with teacher A during class. According to the union, on July 12, the day the pencil incident occurred, the victim's parent sent a message via HiTalk to the deceased requesting a phone call along with photos, and teacher A spoke twice with that parent.

The offending student's parent sent a lengthy message to teacher A's personal phone around 9 p.m. on the day of the incident (July 12). The next day (July 13), the victim's parent, the offending student's parent, and teacher A exchanged multiple HiTalk messages and school phone calls during class.

The union claimed that since the victim student did not come to school at the time and the offending student's parent told teacher A via HiTalk that they were "uncomfortable," teacher A likely had difficulty investigating the matter.

The union also pointed out that although teacher A sent a letter to parents on March 2, early in the semester, stating, "If you feel your child is having difficulties at school, please contact us via the school phone or HiTalk. It is difficult to respond to HiTalk messages during class," this principle was not observed.

The union stated, "The deceased received multiple contacts via HiTalk even during class time and also received calls on their mobile phone. They struggled greatly during the two-day mediation process related to the pencil incident," adding, "The deceased faced conflicts among several students in the classroom and seemed to suffer greatly from frequent complaints from parents of students exhibiting problematic behavior."

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