The reality of education has been laid bare.
The SBS program
Unanswered Questions
, which aired yesterday (July 11), tracked the current state of the educational landscape in 2026.
Last April, a teacher at an elementary school in Jeju was horrified to find a sticky, foul-smelling liquid in a tumbler that had been cleaned the day before. An investigation revealed the substance to be human semen.
The teacher took sick leave due to anxiety and fear. Two months later, while a substitute teacher was conducting class in the same room, someone intruded again. This time, traces of urine were left on the teacher's chair.
The investigation identified the culprit as a first-year male student at a nearby high school. He denied intentional wrongdoing, claiming he had entered the elementary school because he needed to use the restroom urgently. However, the victim was left trembling in fear, wondering why such acts were committed against her twice. Because the perpetrator was a minor under the age of 16, his name, face, and true motives remained unknown, further deepening the victim's distress.
Darker and more cruel events than those seen in dramas are currently unfolding in schools. Last year, a middle school teacher in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, was sued on charges of child abuse.
The child's grandmother first called the teacher, expressing her anger by saying, "I cannot let anyone treat a child I raised with more money than the value of two apartments so carelessly." The following day, the child's parents filed a complaint, alleging that the teacher had forced the child to perform calisthenics in the scorching heat and dragged the student by the ear to the second-floor faculty office.
However, this account was entirely different from the teacher's recollection. The teacher arranged a meeting with the parents the next day to clarify the facts. Instead, the parents became agitated and interrogated the teacher, shouting for the teacher to answer only with yes or no, as if conducting an investigation.
The parents demanded CCTV footage and filed a lawsuit against the teacher, presenting the footage and witnesses. Even after police explained that the CCTV footage did not constitute child abuse, the parents refused to back down. In November of last year, the court ruled that there was no evidence of child abuse by the teacher.
However, the parents subsequently filed an application for judicial review, and after that was dismissed, they filed a second lawsuit last April on charges including assault and insult. The parents are now engaging in secondary victimization of the teachers. Furthermore, the parents even filed a complaint regarding the teacher's conduct to the National Assembly through an acquaintance who is a parliamentary aide.
At an elementary school in Busan, a student was involved in sexually harassing and assaulting classmates. The child also directed profanity and insults involving the student's parents toward both peers and teachers. The teacher notified the parents of the problematic behavior multiple times and requested guidance at home.
In response, the parents stated they would discipline the child properly and questioned whether the teacher held a bias against their child.
When similar incidents continued to occur, a school district deliberation committee was convened, and a mandatory transfer for the student was ordered after two months. The parents, who had previously requested a school violence committee to ensure the child received proper guidance, changed their tune. They filed an application for judicial review regarding the mandatory transfer, reported the teacher for child abuse, and painted the other students in the class as if they were the perpetrators. The resulting lawsuit has been ongoing for two years.
The parents, who continue to pursue repeated litigation, shocked viewers by revealing their true feelings, claiming they were also under great stress and had suffered damages, stating, "I don't know if I should say this, but I want to crush the teacher."
With an average of 700 child abuse reports filed by parents annually, and cases of teacher misconduct occurring behind closed doors, it is a tragic reality that child abuse lawsuits have become a tool for parental harassment.
Incumbent school principals remarked, "The moment the law entered, the school collapsed." Experts pointed out, "Parents are not looking for a solution to the problem; they want an apology, which is why they respond emotionally. The current situation makes it easy to file complaints, and if they set their minds to it, they can harass teachers as much as they want."
They added, "Even if the emotional wounds are addressed and comforted, they do not stop. Emotions are transferred to the parents, who then fight a proxy war. When they claim the teacher is in the wrong, the parents find comfort in the belief that they have done the right thing. They are abusing the system."
Hyun Seung-jun, a teacher who passed away last year, was a science teacher and head of student affairs at a middle school in Jeju, known for his passion.
However, in May of last year, he took his own life at the school where he had worked for 20 years. Leaving behind four suicide notes, he expressed his frustration, stating that he "did not lie."
Since the beginning of last year, Teacher Hyun had been in conflict with a student, referred to as Choi, who was frequently late or absent. Upon receiving a tip that Choi, who rarely attended school, was smoking, Hyun decided he could not let it pass as the head of student affairs. Choi promised he would not smoke and would attend school regularly. However, Choi did not show up the next day, and his parents filed a complaint.
Choi's family claimed that Teacher Hyun had falsely accused the student of smoking, preventing him from attending school, and that Hyun had verbally abused the student during the process. They bombarded the teacher with unreasonable demands, threatening to report him to the Office of Education.
Perhaps due to the pressure of the complaints, Teacher Hyun suffered from severe headaches before his death. He applied for sick leave, but it was not granted.
Instead, he contacted the student's family to resolve the complaints and scheduled a meeting. However, no one from Choi's family appeared on the day of the appointment. Ultimately, he took his own life.
Experts drew attention by pointing out that what is more urgent than new institutions or systems is the more active utilization of the authority already in place.
(Reported by Kim Hyo-jung)
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