Incident of 'Teacher Assault' Occurred at an Elementary School in Busan
A teacher was assaulted by a student while trying to intervene during a dispute between elementary students.
According to the Busan City Office of Education and the Busan Teachers' Union, on the 28th of last month, a 5th-grade student, referred to as A, assaulted teacher B in the face and head at an elementary school in Busan's Seo-gu.
At the time, teacher B witnessed student A fighting with another student in the classroom and was reportedly assaulted while mediating the situation and guiding them to apologize to each other.
Student A threw a pencil case at teacher B, who was following him to provide guidance, and struck B in the face and head with his fists. During the assault, A pushed teacher B, causing him to fall, and also grabbed his hair.
As a result, teacher B sustained contusions to the face, hands, and arms, and received a diagnosis of two weeks of recovery due to injuries including a scalp laceration.
The school has provided teacher B with instructions on how to take official sick leave and special vacation measures for protection.
A's father acknowledged his child's wrongdoing and expressed willingness to accept all of the school's demands. However, when teacher B, who is experiencing psychological distress, stated he would hold a committee meeting for the protection of teaching rights, A's father suddenly filed a complaint against B on charges of child abuse.
A police representative stated, "We are trying to conduct the investigation as fairly as possible" and added, "An investigation is currently ongoing, and there are no clear details to share yet."
Meanwhile, according to a survey conducted by the Teachers' Union Federation, 53.7% of teachers in the Busan area reported experiencing interference in teaching rights by students, while 55.3% reported such interference by parents.
In the past year, 55.9% of teachers in Busan considered leaving their positions, with the most common reason being 'interference in teaching rights' at 51.3%.
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