Credit: Public domain.
In a recent survey by Hankook Research 한국리서치, 78% of respondents said that teachers’ “right to teach 교권” is being seriously infringed upon. The survey was conducted around the one-year anniversary of a high-profile case in which an elementary school teacher in Seoul’s rich district of Seocho-gu 서초구 died by suicide after being severely bullied by the parents of students who fought each other in the teacher’s classroom.
Respondents said that elementary school teachers faced worse abuse (40%) than middle school (26%) or high school (19%) teachers, blaming overzealous parents of young children. A majority of respondents (60%) also said that teachers’ status had suffered from an overemphasis on students’ rights, and 76% called for a stronger legal response in cases of teachers being bullied.