Teachers become target of school violence


A 38-year-old teacher was walking through the playground at her elementary school in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, when she spotted a 6th-grade student smoking a cigarette.

She told the student to show what was in his hand but the unruly boy refused. Her second, more forceful order was responded to with a disrespectful glare.

When the angry teacher reached out to grab his hand, he pushed her back and walked away.

“It was unexpected. But I couldn’t do anything with him,” the teacher said.

As shameful as she may feel, she may be lucky to be unharmed.

Earlier this month, a 52-year-old female teacher was beaten by one of her students at school. The 14-year-old girl slapped her face and pulled her hair until she was unconscious.

The incident made headlines, throwing a spotlight on rampant but little known violence by students against teachers.

Of 287 complaints from teachers received by the Korean Federation of Teacher’s Association in 2011, almost 40 percent are related to physical or verbal assaults from students or their parents.

The largest teachers’ group in Korea said the number was only the tip of the iceberg.

“We know there are far too many students behaving badly, and even being violent to their teachers,” KFTA spokesman Kim Dong-seok said.

Not so long ago, with its long Confucian roots, respecting teachers and cherishing virtues were traditionally considered the core of Korean education. But that does not hold true any more, and an increasing number of teachers now complain how disrespect had become a fact of life in many schools.

“People often underestimate that young children can be as violent and intimidating as the older ones,” the Guri teacher said, noting that her and other members of her teaching staff are often verbally and physically assaulted by their students.

In 2011, more than 4,200 teachers took early retirement, up from 3,660 in 2010. So far this year, more than 3,500 teachers have said they will voluntarily retire, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Another survey from the KFTA explains the reason. The teachers’ association last year surveyed 201 voluntarily-retired teachers.

In the survey, more that 80 percent cited worsened student behavior as the main reason for leaving work.

The government announced earlier this year that it would take strong measures to eradicate school violence, following a string of suicides by middle-school students.

The government pledged to open a school violence hotline, and dispatch more counselors and even legal experts to school as one major step to respond to school violence.

However, none of these measures looked at violence against school teachers.

“We need to rebalance the situation. We need to not only think about teachers’ roles and responsibilities, but also their basic rights,” Kim said.

The problem is, even though they are being assaulted, teachers are often afraid to speak out because they feel ashamed.

Jung Yoon-hong of Busan Teacher’s Association agreed, saying: “Physical assaults by teachers are often blamed publically, but physical assaults by students are considered a taboo topic in school.”

Also the schools often try to cover up their students’ violent behavior as they are afraid to be penalized in school evaluation reports if they report the case, Kim pointed out.

As a first step toward preventing teachers’ victimization, he said, is to encourage more teachers to speak out about their cases.

“We could give them some incentives. Because it is crucial that teachers report incidents of violence so the authorities can monitor and take appropriate actions.”

Teachers admit that a lack of contact with students also plays a significant role in their aggression.

“Apart from teaching, we’re told to do so many things at school, and we don’t really have time to spend with students,” she said.

As schools become increasingly focused on students’ grades, students will receive less individual attention, she added.

“In the past, we tried to hard to discipline students’ wrongdoings, but it is now almost impossible to control them,” said a 58-year-old high-school teacher in Busan.

Teachers’ groups now emphasize the need for the government to take a serious look at their increasing vulnerability to school violence.

They call for designating lawyers to take up cases involving student violations of teachers’ rights, also conducting rigorous investigations into cases of violence against teachers

Yet the teacher in Guri doubts that the authorities can solve the on-going problems.

“They have already used so many rules, but they didn’t work,” she said, adding that she wanted to retire in 10 years

“I don’t think I can stand more than that,” she said

The KFTA spokesman said that teaching in Korea is becoming increasingly difficult and also risky

“Our schools need to be safe havens not just for the students, but also for the teachers,” he added. 

By Oh Kyu-wook and Kim Young-won
(596story@heraldcorp.com) (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)