Amid the death of a teacher at an elementary school in Seocho-gu, Seoul, a number of reports were confirmed that there were excessive complaints from parents in the class of the deceased.
On the 21st, the Seoul Teachers’ Union made public the information received from teachers who recently worked or are currently working in Seoi-cho.
Teacher A, who was in charge of school violence in Seoi-cho, said that most parents involved in school violence complaints were lawyers, and some parents said, “You know what I am? I’m a lawyer.”
Teacher A reported that the level of civil complaints in Seoi-cho was beyond imagination at the time of school violence work. He said that most teachers found their jobs very difficult because there were so many complaints from parents.
Teacher B said that five teachers with low experience worked at Seoi Elementary School from March of last year, and that it was not a good environment for teachers with low experience to work. The teacher said, “I had a lot of experience, but it was a very difficult school for teachers with low experience to work in.”
Teacher C, who worked with the deceased, testified that 안전놀이터“the deceased had a hard time because there was a student who behaved aggressively in the class of the deceased.”
Teacher D reported that there was an incident in which a student in the deceased’s class drew a pencil on the forehead of a student sitting in the back seat, and that the parents of the perpetrator or victim made dozens of phone calls on the deceased’s personal cell phone. In response, the deceased at the time said, “I have never given out my cell phone number, and I have never given it to the teachers’ office, but I don’t know how he got my number and called. It’s creepy. I’ll have to change my cell phone number after vacation.”
It was also reported that there was a student in the class of the deceased who shouted “It’s because of the teacher” in class. The deceased said, “I think I hear the student’s hallucinations when I go to work,” said teacher D.
Teacher E testified that at the time of the incident, parents came to the classroom and said to the deceased, “How do you care for children?” and “You are not qualified as a teacher.” Teacher E said that the deceased said, “It’s 10 times harder than last year,” when asked by a fellow teacher about his current situation.
Teacher F also testified that “the school level told me to keep quiet, so I just did it.”
Regarding this report, the teachers’ union said, “The police are still expressing their opinion that there is no external circumstance that can confirm the suspicion.”
On the 19th, the day after the incident, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education issued a statement and said, “The police are currently investigating the exact cause of the accident.” The principal of Seoi-cho also issued a statement on the same day and denied the parental allegations of abuse, saying, “Since March 1st, there has been no fact that the class in charge of the deceased has been replaced, and there has been no report of school violence in that class this year.”