Why are teachers doing nothing in schools anymore?

Last month, an elementary school in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, became the center of controversy after a third-grade boy, who tried to leave school without permission, cursed at and slapped the vice principal in the face, telling him to "go to jail." In the video, the boy also spits on the vice principal, unconcerned by the presence of other teachers in the hallway. The school also reported the student's parents for assaulting a teacher. People who watched the video expressed their disappointment that the situation at schools hasn't changed in nearly a year since the death of a teacher at Seoyi Elementary School in Seocho-gu, Seoul, last July.

In fact, despite weekly teacher protests since the death of a teacher and the passage of the Five Acts for Protecting Teacher Rights through the National Assembly, many in the field say not much has changed. In a recent survey conducted by the Seoul Teachers' Union, eight out of 10 teachers (84.1%) said that there has been no change in the protection of teachers' teaching activities. Additionally, 78.6% said they had similar experiences to those of the deceased teacher at Seoyi Elementary School.

What was even more shocking in the video was the vice principal who stood helplessly with his hands behind his back while being assaulted. The reality of the school, where it is easy to get caught up in a child abuse case while trying to restrain a student who is acting unruly, made him keep his hands behind his back to avoid touching the student.

After the death of the teacher at Seoyi Elementary School, a post titled "I am the perfect teacher that doesn’t get any complaints" went viral in the elementary teacher online community. This post has resurfaced in various teacher communities as we approach the first anniversary of the teacher's death.

The author is often assigned to a grade level with many parental complaints and problematic students, but she keeps everyone happy - students, parents, and administrators - and doesn't receive any complaints. In parent-teacher conferences, the author only tells parents what they want to hear, and if students misbehave in class, she leaves them as they are. When she was a new teacher, she received many complaints from parents that her homework was interfering with their children's cram school studies, and she was accused of ‘child abuse’ when she corrected misbehavior. Consequently, she has since become a teacher who does nothing and is highly regarded.

I was reminded of this post while watching the video from the elementary school in Jeonju. Who creates teachers who do nothing and a vice principal who puts his hands behind his back despite a student's misbehavior? I also recalled the video submitted to the Public Servant Compensation Review Board in February this year by the bereaved family members of the deceased teacher. The video showed children overturning and kicking chairs in class, crying and throwing things, and was recognized as evidence of the challenge the teacher had faced during the review process. How can children with various problematic behaviors develop under a teacher who does nothing?

There are many reasons why opportunities to correct children's behavior are lost: parents with a ‘prioritizing only their kid’ mentality, the five laws to protect teachers’ rights that are often criticized for being ‘difficult to feel their effects’ in the field, administrators who prioritize keeping the school out of trouble, and organizations that overemphasize child and student human rights, leading to teachers being viewed as ‘potential criminals.’ Furthermore, parents have consistently countered teachers raising concerns about violations of their rights with accusations of 'emotional child abuse.'

It is time to learn from the Seoyi Elementary School case and remove the obstacles to protecting teachers' rights. If we don't, our society will pay the price when students who misbehave in the classroom go out into the world and cause even more harm.