"One Comment Could Lead to a Report": 86% of Elementary Teachers Feel Anxious; Half Consider Resignation or Career Change

86% of Elementary School Teachers Experience Anxiety Over Child Abuse Reports
57% Have Considered Changing Jobs or Resigning in the Past Year

As reports continue to surface of teachers being accused as perpetrators in child abuse cases, it has been revealed that more than 8 out of 10 elementary school teachers feel anxious about the possibility of being reported or sued for child abuse. Calls for institutional reforms to strengthen the protection of teachers' rights are growing louder.

Classroom reference photo. Pixabay

On May 15, the Elementary School Teachers’ Union announced these survey results to mark Teachers’ Day. The Teachers' Union Federation (Teachers' Union) conducted the "2026 Teachers’ Day Teacher Perception Survey" between April 20 and May 11, polling 7,180 teachers nationwide from kindergartens, elementary, middle, and special schools. The findings cited here are from a separate analysis of the 5,462 elementary school teacher responses.

According to the Elementary School Teachers’ Union, 85.8% of elementary school teachers reported feeling anxious about being reported or sued for child abuse—the highest rate among all teacher groups. Specifically, 43.1% said they "very frequently" experience such anxiety, while 42.7% said they "occasionally" feel it. Only 1.1% said they "do not feel it at all" and 4.7% said they "rarely feel it."

When asked to identify the most serious problems with current child abuse laws (multiple answers allowed), the most common response, at 82.0%, was "the restriction of legitimate educational activities due to ambiguous legal standards such as emotional abuse." Another major concern, cited by 80.5%, was "malicious complaints from parents and the indiscriminate abuse of lawsuits."

The Elementary School Teachers’ Union argued that the current Child Welfare Act, which has ambiguous requirements for what constitutes emotional abuse, is leading to reports being filed even for legitimate educational conduct. Sukjo Kang, head of the Elementary School Teachers’ Union, said, "Teachers worry that even a single comment made during class or while supervising students may lead to a lawsuit. Substantial revisions to the Child Welfare Act are needed to ensure the protection of legitimate educational activities."

In the past year, as many as 57.3% of elementary school teachers said they had considered resigning or changing jobs. The most frequently cited reason for contemplating resignation was malicious complaints from parents or others.

When asked why elementary school teachers avoid becoming homeroom teachers (multiple answers allowed), "difficulties with parent consultations and complaints" was the top reason, at 88.7%. The Elementary School Teachers’ Union stated that this highlights the structural reality in which the entire teaching profession is exposed to pressure from complaints.

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