"I Was Injured Playing Beanbag Toss at School"... Parent Files Criminal Complaint Against Teacher Two Years Later

[Financial News] It has been reported that a parent filed a criminal complaint against the teacher in charge at the time on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in injury, two years after an elementary school student was injured while tossing beanbags as a warm-up activity before class.

According to Yonhap News Agency on the 22nd, Parent A, whose child attends an elementary school in Geumcheon District, Seoul, filed a criminal complaint against Teacher B in June. B was recently questioned by police.
In June 2024, when A's child was in fourth grade, the student slipped while playing a game in which students threw beanbags into the air and caught them in the classroom. The child suffered injuries including a dislocated kneecap, received treatment for more than six weeks, and continues to experience recurring pain, swelling and numbness, A said.
In the complaint, A wrote that students wearing only socks were at risk of slipping on the classroom floor. A also argued that the process of landing and maintaining balance while catching the beanbags itself posed a risk of accidents. The complaint alleged that B had students engage in an inappropriate activity under such conditions, thereby violating the duty to protect students.
The activity was part of a program called 'Morning Opening,' held for seven to eight minutes before regular classes began. Students threw beanbags toward the ceiling, clapped several times and then caught them again. B, who retired at the mandatory retirement age in 2020, was working as a part-time instructor and was temporarily in charge of the class at the time of the accident.

B denied the allegations, saying it was merely a sudden, accidental incident and that he had not neglected his duty of care as a supervisor. B maintained that the beanbag activity was an educational exercise conducted by students in all grades every morning and was also recommended in training conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE).
B also countered that he had warned students not to throw the beanbags higher than 30 centimeters and that the floor was not slippery. Regarding A's claim that the child continued to suffer aftereffects, B reportedly responded that the student had participated in a marathon the previous year.
People in the education community said it was extremely rare for a parent to go so far as to file a criminal complaint against a teacher over a school safety accident. In a previous case, an elementary school student died during a field trip in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, in 2022. The teacher was indicted on a charge of professional negligence resulting in death and, at the second trial, received a six-month sentence of imprisonment without labor with the sentence suspended.
School field trips have also been declining sharply, partly because of the burden of teacher liability. According to data released by SMOE on the 15th, the rate of non-residential field trips at elementary schools in Seoul fell from 79% in 2024 to 51% last year and 26% this year.
A spokesperson for the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) said, "If even safety accidents that occur during educational activities without any intentional wrongdoing or negligence on the part of teachers lead to criminal complaints, teachers will find it difficult to conduct normal educational activities for fear of punishment." The spokesperson urged the government to revise the system so that the crime of professional negligence resulting in death or injury is not applied to accidents occurring during normal educational activities.
[email protected] Seong Min-seo Reporter