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The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a 58-year-old elementary school teacher who was indicted on charges of child abuse for calling a student a "fraud" and telling other students not to grow up to be like them.
According to legal circles, the Supreme Court's First Division (Justice Shin Sook-hee presiding) overturned the second-instance verdict that had fined the teacher, identified as A, last month and remanded the case to the Suwon District Court.
In June 2019, during a physical education performance assessment, A refused to accept a student's complaint that they had completed certain tasks, concluding that the student was lying based on A's own memory and the observations of other students.
When the student continued to protest loudly and defy the teacher during the following class, A sent the student to the back of the classroom and ordered them to write a letter of apology, during which the teacher made the remarks in question.
According to the indictment, A told the student in front of their classmates, "Why are you lying? You fraud. You all should not become a person who lies like them. You are disgusting," and "Do not live your life like that," while forcing the student to write the apology letter.
On the same day, A also posted a message on a school communication app, referring to the student: "There is a student who lies convincingly, crying and claiming to be unfairly treated. Even though many people saw it, they insist on lying until the end while crying and claiming they are innocent."
The following day, after receiving a phone call from the student's father, A became angry, took the student to the school research office, and said, "Your parents were making a scene when you were in kindergarten, too, right? Or rather, they must have made a scene."
The prosecution indicted A, arguing that these actions constituted emotional child abuse.
The first and second trials sentenced A to a fine of 2 million won and ordered the completion of a 40-hour child abuse treatment program.
However, the Supreme Court ruled that while A's behavior was inappropriate, it was difficult to view it as emotional abuse, and thus ordered a retrial.
The Supreme Court explained, "The student's behavior that triggered the teacher's remarks in class and the online post can be seen as disruptive behavior that infringed upon the learning rights of other students in the classroom and the teacher's authority."
The court further judged that A's actions fell within the scope of a homeroom teacher's discretion.
The Supreme Court stated, "Given the teacher's attitude and the child's tendencies, it does not appear that the actions were intended to directly disparage the child's character," adding, "It appears to have been done with the intention of calming down a child who could not control their emotions while emphasizing that lying is a serious mistake during an educational measure."
The court also found it difficult to conclude that A's actions resulted in hindering the student's mental health or emotional development.
Regarding the remarks A made after receiving the call from the parent, the Supreme Court stated, "This was based on the teacher's judgment that the child had lied to their parents about what happened during the performance assessment," and added, "It appears there was an educational intention for admonition and discipline."
Accordingly, the Supreme Court overturned the guilty verdict of the lower court and remanded the case for further proceedings.
The Good Education Policy Forum, consisting of 155 members including principals and vice-principals, issued a statement saying, "We welcome the Supreme Court's common-sense ruling," and urged for "forward-looking changes from the National Assembly, the Ministry of Education, offices of education, and child abuse investigation agencies, including the police."
(Photo: Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)
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