Is Making a Student Pick Up Trash 'Child Abuse'? ... "95% Cleared of Charges"

[Anchor]

In our educational field, many teachers continue to suffer from the collapse of their authority, facing various complaints and lawsuits.

Reporter Jeong Banseok covers the story of a teacher who was sued for child abuse for allegedly making a student pick up trash.

[Reporter]

An elementary school in South Chungcheong Province.

In May of last year, a parent of a fourth-grade student sent a message to the teacher, claiming that their child was being bullied because the teacher failed to take proper action despite a request to separate the child from a peer who was bothering them.

The issue had already been concluded by the School Violence Prevention and Countermeasures Committee as not constituting school violence. However, the message included remarks such as, "Are you teaching the parent now without even apologizing?" and "You claim to raise children, but you have no sensitivity, no empathy, and why are you raising your voice when you've done nothing right?"

[Elementary School Teacher: I was terrified and my heart was pounding when I received this, so I blocked them. Then they called the school office, saying, 'Are you crazy?' and 'I will turn this school upside down.']

The Office of Education's Teacher Rights Protection Committee determined the parent's behavior to be an "infringement on educational activities," but what the teacher received in return was a lawsuit for child abuse.

The parent added a claim that the teacher had committed emotional abuse by making only their child pick up trash.

[Elementary School Teacher: I have always made it a part of daily education that students should pick up the trash they have discarded themselves. I feel truly wronged by the claim that I singled out that child to cause them disadvantage.]

The parent also cited as grounds for child abuse the fact that the teacher asked the child to look for a spot to take a group photo, and then ignored the child after they sent the photo. However, police investigations revealed that the message the teacher sent to the student was, "Thank you."

It took two months for the teacher to be cleared of child abuse charges by investigative authorities.

The parent then filed an additional lawsuit for defamation, claiming the teacher gave false testimony to the Teacher Rights Protection Committee, and it took another four months to receive a non-indictment decision.

A civil lawsuit filed on the grounds that the teacher caused the child mental distress is still ongoing.

[Elementary School Teacher: In fact, child abuse has long been called a 'crime of hurting feelings.' I think it is a very harsh punishment to have to suffer from such lawsuits for over a year. It is truly difficult to provide 'true education.']

The parent in question says that the investigative agency's decision of no charges does not mean the wrongdoing has disappeared.

[Parent: I do not think it is a case of no charges. In any case, the school did fail to protect (my child). That is why I filed an application for fiscal review. I am just following legal procedures, and I don't understand why that is being made into an issue.]

According to the Ministry of Education, 95% of teachers reported for child abuse have not been indicted or have had their cases dismissed.

Reported by Jeong Banseok | Video by Kim Se-kyung | Video Editing by Yoon Tae-ho | Graphics by Park Tae-young | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.