Editor's note: Editor's Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health issues, call 988 to connect with a trained counselor or visit the 988 Lifeline website to call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. do it.
Seoul, South Korea
CNN
—
When a fight broke out in Kang Hyun-joo's elementary school classroom, her heart was beating so fast, she couldn't breathe, and her vision was blurry.
“They were throwing punches, kicking people in the face, throwing chairs and tables.” She recalled that trying to intervene left her wounded.
For two years, Mr. Kang struggled to discipline his students, and when he did, he also had to deal with the backlash from their parents. She claimed the principal offered no help and simply told her to “just take a week off.”
The tension took a dangerous toll. Kang began feeling the urge to run in front of the bus, he said. He said, “I think if I just jump, I’ll feel a little more at ease. If I jump off a tall building, at least it will give me peace.”
Mr. Kang is currently on sick leave, but he has not gone through this alone.
Tens of thousands of teachers have protested in recent months demanding more protections from students and parents. According to organizers, 200,000 people gathered at a protest in Seoul last month to force the government to take notice and take action.
![Hyunjoo Kang is currently on sick leave.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/231013110405-03-south-korea-teachers-enough.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
After a first-grade teacher in his early 20s committed suicide last July, teachers and staff across the country took a unified stance. She was found dead in a classroom in Seoul. Discussing the case, police mentioned the troubled student and pressure from her parents, but did not give a clear reason for her suicide.
Several teachers have taken their own lives since July, some of them linked to school stress, according to colleagues of the deceased and their families.
Government data shows that between January 2018 and June 2023, 100 public school teachers took their own lives, 11 of them in the first six months of the year. However, it did not specify which factors contributed to their deaths.
Seong Yul-gwan, a professor of education at Kyung Hee University, said many people were surprised by the speed and scale of the protests. “I think there was a common feeling that something like this could happen to me,” he said.
Teachers point to the 2014 Child Abuse Act aimed at protecting children as one of the main reasons they feel unable to discipline students. They say they fear the few parents who have caused emotional distress to their children will be sued and taken to court.
“School is the final barrier to telling students what is okay and what is not okay in society. But we couldn't do anything. If you taught them, you could be criticized,” said Ahn Ji-hye, an elementary school teacher who helped organize previous protests.
Ahn said parents had been calling her cell phone for several days from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. to talk about their children or complain.
![On September 4, 2023, mourners lay flowers in front of the memorial altar of an elementary school teacher who died of apparent suicide last July at an elementary school in Seoul.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230904094734-02-seoul-teacher-suicide-090423.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
South Korea's Education Minister Lee Ju-ho initially warned teachers that a mass strike would be illegal. This position quickly changed, and a series of legislative amendments passed the National Assembly on 21 September, quickly becoming law.
One of the key changes would give teachers some protection from being accused of child abuse if their discipline is considered legitimate educational activity. Additionally, responsibility for handling school complaints and lawsuits filed by parents now rests with principals.
Professor Seong said, “Until now, there was a culture in which principals passed responsibility to teachers.”
The new law also protects teachers' personal information, including cell phone numbers, and requires parents to contact the school with concerns or complaints rather than teachers directly.
In the past, Mr. Ahn said, “If I couldn’t give out my personal phone number, some parents would come to the parking lot, watch my phone number in the car, write it down, and send me a text message.” “I.” It is customary for Koreans to display their phone number at the bottom of their car windshield.
Rep. Ahn welcomes this revision of the law as “meaningful,” but argues that revisions to higher-level laws such as the Child Welfare Act and the Child Abuse Punishment Act are also necessary. “Under these laws, it is still possible to report a teacher based on suspicion alone,” she said.
She said protests would continue, at least for now.
One is scheduled to be held outside the National Assembly on October 28. Rep. Ahn said he hopes practical steps will be taken to ensure mandatory changes are adopted in classrooms, such as punishing parents who baselessly criticize teachers or expelling disruptive students. Allows you to continue your education elsewhere.
Professor Seong believes the amendments will help in the short term, but cautions that the law should be viewed as a safety net rather than a solution.
![Korean teachers hold a rally in front of the National Assembly in Seoul on September 4.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230904095445-07-seoul-teacher-suicide-090423.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
Critics say it is not surprising that parents put so much pressure on teachers and the wider education system because Korean society places a disproportionate emphasis on academic success.
It is common for students to attend cram schools, called academies, after regular school hours, not as extra classes, but as a basic and costly requirement for success.
On the day of the college entrance exam, airplanes are grounded and commuting times are adjusted so as not to disturb students taking the college entrance exam.
“We have a culture where parents usually have one child and are ready to pour all their financial resources and opportunities into this child,” said Sung.
“Sometimes this pressure or obsession with education, with high scores, high achievement (mindset), is not a good environment for teachers. Because they are under pressure from their parents.”
![Mourners pass wreaths in front of an elementary school in Seoul on September 4 following the apparent suicide of a teacher last July.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230904095110-04-seoul-teacher-suicide-090423.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
Seong says the days when teachers were automatically respected, not just in Korea but around the world, are over, and the dynamics between teachers and parents are unrecognizable just 10 or 20 years ago.
He added, “In education policy, parents are viewed as consumers with consumer sovereignty, and schools and teachers are viewed as service providers,” adding, “I believe that parents have the right to demand a lot from schools.”
In countries where education is seen as key to success, teacher satisfaction is low. According to a survey conducted by the National Teachers and Education Workers Union last April, 26.5% of all teachers responded that they had received counseling or treatment for psychological problems at work. About 87% said they had considered changing jobs or quitting their job in the past year.