Teacher Loses Consciousness After Student Assault in Gwangju... Perpetrator Mocks Victim

An incident occurred at a middle school in Gwangju where a teacher lost consciousness following threatening behavior by a student. The perpetrating student not only mocked the teacher after they collapsed, but it was also revealed that this student had routinely infringed upon the educational rights of other students. This has led parents to urge educational authorities to come up with countermeasures.

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According to the education community on April 14, parents of first-year students at a certain middle school in Gwangju recently submitted a collective petition to the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, calling for the protection of both students’ right to learn and teachers’ authority in the classroom. Through emails and signed petitions, the parents criticized the educational authorities’ response as inadequate.

On March 27, in the teachers’ office at the same school, homeroom teacher Mr. A was guiding student B, who had a history of unpredictable behavior. During this interaction, Mr. B threatened the teacher with an object, prompting Mr. A to intervene. In the process, Mr. B pushed Mr. A, causing the teacher to hit their head on the corner of a desk and lose consciousness on the spot.

For several minutes until emergency responders arrived, Mr. A experienced convulsions in all limbs. The teacher was diagnosed with a concussion and hospitalized for treatment. Although now discharged, Mr. A is currently on medical leave due to lingering aftereffects such as headaches and dizziness.

What shocked the school community even more was student B’s behavior immediately after the incident. It was reported that B, seeing Mr. A collapsed, hummed a tune and remarked, "Stop overacting." Teachers who witnessed this scene are said to have suffered serious psychological distress.

Student B has exhibited habitual bullying of classmates and refusal to follow teachers’ instructions since elementary school, and has even appeared on a television program dealing with children’s behavioral issues. Nevertheless, during the middle school placement process, B was assigned to a regular class without any special protective measures or prior notice. Parents strongly criticized the authorities, stating, "The risks associated with this student were already publicly known, yet the Office of Education assigned B to a regular school without any preventive measures, effectively causing this incident."

Parents recently submitted a petition to the metropolitan office of education, demanding "practical measures that can guarantee both the learning rights of the majority of students and the authority of teachers."

One parent said, "With the recent school violence cases in the region, it is difficult to feel safe sending our children to school. Responsibility should not be shifted onto homeroom teachers alone- the Office of Education and school administrators must take active steps to provide psychological support and establish a real system for separate education."

In response, an official from the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education stated, "Regarding the case of the teacher who was assaulted, we plan to convene a Teacher Rights Protection Committee by mid-April to discuss countermeasures. We also intend to dispatch instructors to classes to provide education aimed at protecting the learning environment for students."

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