"Why Does My Child Look Like That?"... 5.4 Million Views for an Elementary Teacher's Frustration

Teachers Voice Concerns Over Field Trip Complaints
96% Say "Field Experience Learning Is a Burden"

As teachers face growing pressure surrounding field experience learning, a video featuring an elementary school teacher voicing concerns about excessive parental complaints and other difficulties has gone viral.

Sukjo Kang, Chairperson of the Elementary School Teachers' Union, is speaking at the "Educational Community Meeting for Safe Field Experience Learning." Ministry of Education YouTube

According to the education sector on May 11, a YouTube Shorts video titled "The Real Reason Teachers Are Reluctant About Field Experience Learning," posted on the official channel of the Elementary School Teachers' Union on May 8, surpassed 5.4 million views as of this afternoon.

This video is a re-edited version of remarks made by Sukjo Kang, Chairperson of the Elementary School Teachers' Union, at the "Educational Community Meeting for Safe Field Experience Learning," hosted by the Ministry of Education in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on May 7.

In the video, Chairperson Kang noted, "Field experience learning is not mandatory," emphasizing that such activities have been voluntarily conducted by teachers for the benefit of students. He added, "In the past, teachers organized several field trips each year to provide more experiences for students, but recently, participation has essentially stopped."

Chairperson Kang particularly pointed out the issue of parental complaints. He explained that, before field trips, teachers receive requests such as "Please pair my child with a specific classmate" or "Why are you going so far and making the children get carsick?" He also shared that, even after taking hundreds of photos of students during the event, parents complain, saying, "Why are there only five photos of my child?" or "Why does my child look that way in the pictures?"

Chairperson Kang went on to say, "Do not make field experience learning compulsory," and stressed, "Curriculum planning should be the responsibility of teachers, who are educational professionals. Please create an environment where teachers can make these decisions independently."

Previously, a recent survey by the Elementary School Teachers' Union of 21,918 elementary school teachers nationwide found that 96.2% of respondents were negative about organizing field experience learning activities such as picnics and school trips. The greatest burden cited was anxiety over teachers' legal liability in the event of safety accidents.

As the video garnered millions of views, many online comments expressed empathy for teachers' burdens. Netizens responded, "Aren't teachers being given too much responsibility?", "Instead of forcing teachers, there should be an environment where field trips are possible," and "If teachers receive complaints over such trivial matters, who would want to organize field experience learning?"

Meanwhile, at the May 7 meeting, the Ministry of Education discussed safe field experience learning operations by gathering opinions from teachers, students, and parents. However, there are calls from the field to first address the structure that places responsibility for safety accidents and parental complaints solely on individual teachers.

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