Exclusive: Teacher Suffers Miscarriage Amid Relentless Harassment by Parent

[Anchor]

A case of teacher rights infringement, more severe than what one might see in a drama, has unfolded in an actual school setting. A physical education teacher was subjected to verbal abuse by a parent and forced to undergo police investigation on charges of child abuse simply for having students exercise on the school playground. Ultimately, the teacher even lost her unborn child.

Jeong Banseok has this exclusive report.

[Reporter]

In June of last year, at a middle school in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province.

A physical education teacher, identified as A, had her first-period class perform squats as they wrapped up their lesson.

Three days later, she received a phone call from the student's grandmother.

[Student's Grandmother: You made our OO stand on the school playground in this sweltering heat... Our child has a 'So-yang' body type and doesn't drink water well.]

Although Teacher A explained that she had never made the student stand alone, the complaints continued.

[Student's Grandmother: We spent more than the price of two apartments on his education, from native English speakers to golf lessons. He is not a child that a teacher can just treat however they like.]

Two days later, the parents visited the school in person.

[Student's Father: My mother said you were rude, and you really were. I heard you told my mother, 'I was raised preciously, too.' Is that true? Is it? Answer me with a 'yes' or 'no'...]

[School Official: Please, sir, do not question her as if you are conducting an interrogation.]

The parents filed a complaint against Teacher A for child abuse, claiming that she had pulled their son's ears and forced him to perform a "wall sit" (a position often called a "transparent chair" in Korea), which they labeled as cruel treatment.

[Teacher A/Middle School PE Teacher: I suffered from severe insomnia and intense anxiety, which caused me great mental shock. As a newlywed, I was waiting for a baby, but I ended up having a miscarriage, and I think that was when I truly fell apart.]

The police investigation concluded that there was no criminal conduct.

However, the parent's complaints persisted, and Teacher A's diary began to fill with entries like "I am falling apart" and "I want to give up on everything."

[Teacher A/Middle School PE Teacher: I even attempted to take my own life, but my husband was there to stop me. I decided to turn that pain into a public issue, thinking that this shouldn't happen to me or any other teacher anymore.]

Teacher A reported the incident to the Office of Education's Teacher Rights Protection Committee.

The committee ruled that the parent had infringed upon educational activities and ordered them to undergo special education, but nothing changed.

The parent education program was not mandatory and ultimately fell through, and the parent instead filed additional complaints against Teacher A for false accusation, insult, and defamation.

The parent's side stated that while they respect the decisions of the investigative agencies and the court, they could not provide a comment as the additional legal proceedings are still ongoing.

[Kim Ji-sung/Head of the Gyeongnam Branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union: If we do not stop this immediately, schools will truly become places where education is difficult, or even impossible.]

Trapped in an endless cycle of litigation, the nightmare the teacher must endure remains ongoing, even a year later.

(Video Report: Kim Se-kyung | Video Editing: Lee Sang-min | Graphics: Jang Chae-woo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.