"Did Our Child Get Bullied and Neglected?" Parents Sue Homeroom Teachers for Child Abuse

Threatening Texts Sent Even During Injured Teacher's Sick Leave
Teachers' Union Urges Amendments to Child Welfare Act and Teacher Status Act

In an elementary school in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, it has been revealed that a parent repeatedly filed complaints and threatened homeroom teachers with child abuse charges, claiming they neglected their child.

According to the Jeollabuk-do Teachers' Union on the 1st, a parent, Mr. A, of a 4th-grade student at an elementary school in Jeonju, submitted a petition to the police on the 12th of last month, requesting punishment for the child's 1st-grade homeroom teacher on charges of child abuse. Mr. A claimed that the homeroom teacher neglected the child's behavioral guidance during 1st grade, which has caused ongoing difficulties for his child in school life.

This is not the first time Mr. A has filed a complaint against a teacher. Last year, he also accused the homeroom teacher of the adjacent class, Mr. B, of child abuse. At that time, Mr. A reported that his child was a victim of school violence, and he alleged secondary victimization by Mr. B, the homeroom teacher of the perpetrator student, claiming that Mr. B made his child reenact the school violence incident.

Teacher Mr. B refuted the claim, stating that the student gave different accounts of the location where the school violence occurred, and with the student's consent, he accompanied the student to the site to verify the facts. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage confirmed that Mr. A's claims were unfounded, and Mr. B was cleared of charges, while Mr. A was reportedly prosecuted for false accusation.

The union stated that Mr. A has continuously threatened and intimidated homeroom teachers beyond the aforementioned complaint. In 2022, when his child was in 2nd grade, Mr. A threatened to report the homeroom teacher for neglecting behavioral guidance, alleging child abuse. However, the homeroom teacher apologized to Mr. A at that time, which prevented the report.

According to the union, Mr. A is currently threatening to report the 4th-grade homeroom teacher as well. When conflicts arose in Mr. A's child's peer relationships, homeroom teacher Mr. C conducted counseling to mediate the conflicts among students, but Mr. A expressed dissatisfaction with this. Mr. A reportedly sent dozens of messages such as, "If you don't resolve the issue, I will accuse you of child abuse for spreading false information to the education office," and "See you at the police station."

Mr. C took sick leave, judging that normal educational activities were impossible, but Mr. A's contacts continued, the union reported. Furthermore, the affected teacher is reportedly afraid of being reported for child abuse and has not even filed a complaint about the violation of teacher's rights.

The union lamented, "Even if teachers accused of child abuse are eventually cleared, their lives become devastated as they undergo investigations by multiple agencies such as the police, education office, local government, and prosecution." They added, "Especially when encountering parents who recklessly accuse teachers of child abuse as in this case, teachers have no choice but to continue their careers feeling intimidated by the fear of being sued." They urged for effective and strong measures to protect teachers from reckless and malicious infringements of their rights by parents, calling for proxy complaints by the superintendent of education and amendments to the Child Welfare Act and the Teacher Status Act.

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