“Blocked the child with their whole body, yet branded an abuser”... Special education teacher left in the same classroom as a pupil while receiving tetanus shots

[Financial News] A special education teacher at a public kindergarten in Sejong City was officially recognized by education authorities as having suffered an infringement of teacher rights, but was not separated from the pupil and was sued again by the same parent on suspicion of child abuse.
Concerns are mounting that a teacher injured by the pupil’s ongoing aggressive behavior was left defenseless under merely formal teacher-rights protection measures, and calls for institutional reform are growing.
According to the Sejong branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union and teacher A, who was injured, the parent of a pupil eligible for special education at a public kindergarten in Sejong City filed a police complaint against A last week on suspicion of child abuse (physical abuse).
After red marks were found on the child’s neck, the parent’s side claimed, “The teacher choked the child.” A, however, strongly denied the allegation, saying, “Other teachers were also in the classroom at the time, and the marks were from the child scratching themself because of an itch.”
The Sejong Police Agency visited the kindergarten on the 30th of last month and obtained CCTV footage. It plans to call in those involved soon to establish the facts.

This is not the first conflict between A and the parent. The pupil has repeatedly become agitated and acted aggressively since last year, and teachers have repeatedly been bitten on their hands and arms while trying to keep the child and the other pupils safe.
After being bitten repeatedly, A received a tetanus shot and was even diagnosed with a concussion in July. More recently, A was injured when bitten on the lip and was also hospitalized for treatment after a cervical disc condition worsened.
The teachers eventually reported the pupil and the parent for infringing on their teacher rights last summer. After reviewing the case in August, the Sejong City Office of Education’s Teacher Rights Protection Committee ordered the parent to issue a written apology and the pupil to receive psychological treatment.
But no meaningful protection was put in place. The kindergarten operates two classes together, making it impossible to avoid contact simply by separating the classes. The guardian applied to transfer the pupil to a nearby kindergarten, but the education office’s Special Education Operations Committee rejected the request. Under current law, it is virtually impossible to forcibly transfer or separate a kindergarten pupil eligible for special education.
As a result, A had to face every day the pupil who had injured A, in the same space, and was exposed to a series of complaints from the parent. In July, the parent had also filed a complaint against four teachers, including A and the principal, on suspicion of child abuse (neglect) after A supervised the pupil’s departure and handover to the family following an outburst. A police investigation is ongoing.

A said, “The child is getting stronger and the injuries are becoming more serious, but now that I’ve even been accused of physical abuse, there’s nothing I can do to stop the child when they act out,” and lamented, “There’s a limit to how long a teacher can hold out by physically blocking the child. I’m at a loss as to how we’re supposed to provide active education in an environment like this.”
The teachers’ group strongly criticized the ineffectiveness of the broken teacher-rights protection system. Lee Sang-mi, head of the Sejong branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, said, “Special education teachers are frequently assaulted by pupils, yet the vicious cycle of infringements of teacher rights and child-abuse complaints keeps repeating,” and called on the education office to “put effective measures in place so the pupil can receive specialized intensive treatment or the educational environment can be fundamentally separated.”
An official from the Sejong City Office of Education said, “The Early Childhood and Elementary Education Division and the Teacher Rights Protection Team are visiting the site and carefully establishing the facts,” adding, “Once the site inspection is complete, we will announce our official position and prepare measures.”
[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter