"Kindergarten Teacher Referred for Child Abuse After Assaulting Students Over Skipping Performance Practice"

Abuse Occurred in a CCTV Blind Spot
Committee Concludes Teacher's Actions Constituted Abuse
Teacher Strongly Denies All Allegations
Parents Demand Preventive Measures to Stop Recurrence

A kindergarten teacher in the Gangwon region has been referred to the prosecution on charges of physically abusing children. The incident has caused shock, as the young victims are reportedly still suffering from psychological distress.

On March 18, Yonhap News, citing the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency, reported that a kindergarten teacher, referred to as Ms. A, was sent to the prosecution on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Child Abuse (child abuse by employees of child welfare institutions). Ms. A, who was the homeroom teacher for a class of four-year-olds, is accused of physically abusing two students, a girl referred to as B (6) and a boy referred to as C (6), in November last year by taking them to the teachers’ office and kicking them in the abdomen because they did not participate in the rehearsal for a school event.

According to the victims’ families, on the day of the incident, B told her parents, “I was called to the teachers’ office and kicked in the stomach for not practicing and for being distracted.” She further stated, “I was hit so hard I was pushed back, and even though I was crying, I kept being scolded.” During the police investigation, the other victim, C, also said he was assaulted in the same way. Footage from corridor CCTV showed C coming out of the teachers’ office in tears.

However, as there is no video footage from inside the office where the incident occurred, direct physical evidence could not be secured. In addition, it was revealed that Ms. A once told C, who had a habit of sucking his fingers, “I’ll cut off your fingers with scissors.” The police deemed this to constitute emotional abuse. Ms. A denied all charges, but both the police and the Child Abuse Case Review Committee of Chuncheon City concluded that her actions constituted abuse.

Exterior view of Gangwon Provincial Police Agency. Gangwon Provincial Police Agency website

The families of the victims have reported severe aftereffects since the incident. C’s parents said, “Whenever the word ‘stomach’ comes up, our child acts out as if that male teacher had kicked him in the stomach and says his stomach hurts. Every time he says things like that, we feel like our blood runs cold.” They added, “Because of that one teacher, our once-harmonious family life has collapsed. Due to the secondary trauma, we are enduring a difficult time as we undergo psychological therapy with our child, and we earnestly appeal for severe punishment.”

B’s parents also said, “Even when our child is playing happily, she sometimes asks, ‘Is the teacher coming back to the kindergarten?’ and every time she says, ‘It really hurt when the teacher hit my stomach,’ it breaks our hearts.” They continued, “If the perpetrating teacher returns after her leave of absence, we are filled with anxiety and worry about what to do, and it already feels unbearable and makes it hard to sleep at night because the kindergarten and the education office seem to have no clear plan. Concerns are growing about the possibility of the teacher returning to work, but no clear response has been provided, leaving parents increasingly anxious.”

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