"Why Did You Make My Child Pick Up Trash?"... Elementary School Teacher Sued for 'Child Abuse'

Cleared of Charges After Two Months, but Four More Months for Defamation Case

Ministry of Education: "95% of Reported Teachers Not Indicted or Charged"

An elementary school teacher in South Chungcheong Province was reported by a parent for making a student pick up trash, among other reasons.

An incident occurred where an elementary school teacher was reported by parents for making students pick up trash. The photo is not directly related to the article. Photo by Jinhyung Kang

According to an SBS report on the 24th, elementary school teacher A received a text message from the parent of a fourth-grade student in May of last year. In the message, the parent requested that the teacher separate their child from another student who was allegedly bullying them, and claimed that the teacher’s inadequate response resulted in continued bullying of their child.

However, the School Violence Countermeasures Deliberation Committee had already concluded that the issue did not constitute school violence. Despite this, the parent continued to send messages such as, "Are you trying to teach the parent without even apologizing?" and "You claim to be raising children, but you lack both sensitivity and empathy, so what gives you the right to raise your voice?"

Teacher A said, "I was scared and my heart was racing, so I blocked the parent. After that, they called the teachers' office saying, 'Are you crazy?' and threatened, 'I will turn the whole school upside down.'"

Subsequently, the Office of Education’s Teacher Rights Protection Committee determined that the parent’s behavior constituted an "infringement on educational activities." In response, the parent filed a child abuse complaint against Teacher A, claiming that the teacher had emotionally abused their child by making only that student pick up trash.

Regarding this, Teacher A explained, "I have always taught students to pick up trash they themselves dropped," and pleaded, "I have never singled out that child for unfair treatment."

The parent also argued that Teacher A ignored a photo the child sent after being asked to find a location for a group photo, citing this as further evidence of child abuse. However, a police investigation confirmed that Teacher A had replied to the student with, "Thank you."

Partial text message sent by a parent to a teacher. Screenshot from SBS news broadcast.

"Child abuse reduced to 'hurting feelings'... 95% found not guilty"

It took about two months for Teacher A to be cleared of child abuse charges by investigative authorities. The parent then filed an additional defamation lawsuit, alleging that the teacher gave false statements before the Teacher Rights Protection Committee, which took another four months to resolve with a not-guilty decision. However, a civil lawsuit claiming that the child suffered psychological distress is still ongoing.

Teacher A said, "In reality, child abuse has long been called a 'crime of hurting feelings,'" and added, "I believe the fact that teachers have to endure such lawsuits for over a year is itself an excessively harsh punishment."

On the other hand, the parent maintains that the teacher is still at fault, despite the not-guilty verdict from investigators. The parent stated, "I do not believe the teacher is not guilty," and added, "It is true that the school failed to properly protect my child. That is why I filed for a judicial review. I simply followed legal procedures, so I don't understand why this is being criticized."

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Education, 95% of teachers reported for suspected child abuse received either a decision of non-indictment or were not charged.

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