By Yun Suh-young
Will the latest package of anti-school violence measures work?
Many teachers reacted doubtfully to the steps announced by the government Monday.
The Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU) said through a press release that the new measures were inefficient and “disappointing.”
Teachers from the union say this is because the government diagnosed the cause of school violence completely wrong.
One of the new measures requires schools to retain the records of students who commit violent acts on the school register for five to ten years, but teachers from KTU denounce this.
“Leaving records of students’ violent past is inhumane and anti-educational as it is the same as excluding them from society forever for one or two mistakes they made in their teenage years,” they wrote in the statement.
“Teachers should be at the center of the anti-school violence measures but the government’s plan mentions nothing about enhancing teachers’ capacities and setting up appropriate roles and responsibilities,” they said.
A teacher from Hanyang High School attached to the college of education at Hanyang University said, “Every time a new proposal is announced and sent down to local schools to be carried out, teachers are given additional work to do.”
The teacher in his 30s, who declined to be named, said, “Most teachers won’t react positively to new measures announced by the education ministry because they know they’ll be burdened with new administrative work. Besides, teachers are always doubtful about the government’s policies.”
Regarding the government’s move to increase the number of physical education classes, he said it wouldn’t really help reduce school violence because it is during those classes that students often commit violence. “Increasing the number of classes could, on the contrary, provide more opportunity for violence,” he said.
As for placing two teachers in homerooms and having their duties divided, he said it could cause teachers to evade their responsibilities.
“Teachers these days try to avoid becoming homeroom teachers. If there are two homeroom teachers, both will try to avoid the responsibility thinking the other one will do the work. This would be bad in terms of taking care of students,” he said.
In contrast, the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations (KFTA) said through a press release that they expect the measures to be successful and efficient in settling the problem.
It welcomed the move, saying that the new plan has considered all the possible alternatives and stressed the importance of the roles of students, parents, teachers and society, unlike in the past when they stressed only the roles of the schools.
“Enhancing the reporting system on school violence, expanding education on the prevention of violence and increasing the role of families and society are all measures that have made significant progress compared to the past,” the KFTA said.
It also welcomed the government’s plan to increase the number of physical education classes and afterschool sports activities.